System and method for enabling and maintaining vendor qualification

ABSTRACT

A computer system and method is disclosed for pre-qualifying vendors for buyers and/or industries using vendor criteria information associated with buyers and/or industries and vendor qualification information associated with vendors. Vendors and buyers enter the vendor qualification information and vendor criteria information, respectively, into a database in a hierarchical and relational manner. The computer system compares entered vendor qualification information to stored vendor criteria information to pre-qualify vendors for buyers and/or industries. The computer system further monitors the stored vendor qualification information and requests updated vendor qualification information from the vendors to maintain vendor qualification on a per industry and/or per buyer basis.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

[0001] 1. Field of the Invention

[0002] The present invention relates generally to a computer system andmethod for qualifying vendors, and specifically to a computer system andmethod for collecting and maintaining vendor qualification informationto qualify vendors on a per industry basis and a per buyer basis.

[0003] 2. Description of Related Art

[0004] Each industry has different requirements for the goods andservices used in the industry. In addition, each buyer within theindustry may have additional requirements for the goods and servicesused by the buyer. These goods and services can range from manufacturingcomponents to labor resources (e.g., contractors, temporary employeesand permanent employees). Although the amount and type varies, buyerstypically perform some sort of due diligence prior to purchasing thesegoods and services in order to justify their purchasing decisions. Forexample, a buyer may require capabilities (qualification) information ofthe vendor providing the good and/or service before making theirpurchasing decision. In many cases, the qualification information issolicited from the vendor in the form of a Request for Proposal (RFP) ora Request for Quotation (RFQ).

[0005] In the past, the vendor qualification process has been laborintensive and restricted to a limited number of known vendors. However,with the advent of the digital age, buyers now have access to a variousmediums to obtain vendor qualification information faster, cheaper andmore efficiently. In addition, the pool of vendors to select from hasincreased due to new digital sources of vendor information. For example,buyers and vendors now have access to Internet computer networks thatprovide a forum for buyers to send RFQ's to qualified vendors registeredwith the computer network. Vendor information for each registered vendorcan be centrally stored and compared to filter parameters in a submittedRFQ to select the appropriate vendors to receive the RFQ.

[0006] Although such a network provides a potentially larger pool ofvendors to receive the RFQ, the buyer must enter the filter parametersfor each RFQ submitted. The process of entering the filter parametersplaces an additional burden on the buyer, resulting in a moretime-consuming and expensive RFQ submittal. In addition, if the filterparameters are not tailored appropriately, the buyer may receive RFQresponses from vendors that are not qualified, thereby requiring thebuyer to review unwanted responses, and possibly re-submit a new RFQwith different filter parameters. Likewise, the network must compare thefilter parameters to stored vendor information for each RFQ received.The extensive processing required to perform comparisons for each RFQmay degrade network performance and increase the associated costs ofproviding a vendor information service. Therefore, what is needed is avendor qualification system that provides access to a large pool ofvendors with minimal network processing and reduced buyer requirements.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

[0007] To overcome the deficiencies of the prior art, embodiments of thepresent invention provide a computer system and method forpre-qualifying vendors using vendor criteria information associated withbuyers and/or industries and vendor qualification information associatedwith vendors. A database maintains the vendor criteria information andvendor qualification information. In one embodiment, vendors and buyersenter the vendor qualification information and vendor criteriainformation, respectively, into vendor records and buyer records,respectively, in the database in a hierarchical and relational manner. Aweb-based interface to the computer system provides web pages to thevendors and buyers to solicit particular vendor qualification/criteriainformation. Subsequent web pages are selected based upon the vendor andbuyer responses entered in previous web pages. A vendor qualificationtool compares entered vendor qualification information to stored vendorcriteria information to pre-qualify vendors for buyers.

[0008] According to further embodiments of the present invention,vendors can be pre-qualified or compared on a per industry basis usingindustry-related vendor criteria information. In one embodiment, theindustry-related vendor criteria information is pre-configured based onindustry standards and requirements and vendors are pre-qualified basedupon the industry requirements. In another embodiment, theindustry-related vendor criteria information includes statistical datacollected from vendor records and/or buyer records within the database,and vendors can be compared to the statistical data. This statisticaldata can further serve as a benchmarking tool for buyers and vendorswhen entering the vendor criteria information and vendor qualificationinformation, respectively. The database can further maintain theindustry-related vendor criteria information within industry records.

[0009] In still further embodiments of the present invention, thecomputer system monitors the stored vendor qualification information andrequests updated vendor qualification information from the vendors tomaintain vendor qualification on a per industry and per buyer basis. Avendor maintenance tool periodically reviews the stored vendorqualification information in the database to ascertain whether updatedvendor qualification information is required and requests updated vendorqualification information from the vendors. The vendor maintenance toolis further capable of selectively removing vendors from one or morelists of pre-qualified vendors on a per industry or per buyer basis whenupdated vendor qualification information is not received.

[0010] Embodiments of the present invention provide buyers with one ormore lists of pre-qualified vendors to select from. Buyers can submitRFP/RFQ's to all pre-qualified vendors on the list or to only a selectnumber of the pre-qualified vendors, depending upon the buyer'spreference. The list of pre-qualified vendors is created from a largepool of vendors to allow buyers access to a wide variety of vendors.However, the RFP/RFQ's are sent to only those vendors on thepre-qualified list, which reduces system processing complexity byperforming the qualification one-time only per industry or per buyerprior to creation and submission of the RFP/RFQ's. In addition, buyertime and cost for creating and submitting the RFP/RFQ is reduced byqualifying vendors prior to creation of the RFP/RFQ.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0011] The disclosed invention will be described with reference to theaccompanying drawings, which show important sample embodiments of theinvention and which are incorporated in the specification hereof byreference, wherein:

[0012]FIG. 1 is a high-level functional view of the vendor qualificationprocess involved in the present invention;

[0013]FIG. 2 is a network diagram of the computer system of the presentinvention;

[0014]FIG. 3 is an alternate network diagram of the computer system ofthe present invention implemented at the buyer network;

[0015]FIG. 4 is an exemplary functional view illustrating the vendor andbuyer record creation process, in accordance with embodiments of thepresent invention;

[0016]FIGS. 5A and 5B are database table views illustrating theinterrelation between the different types of vendor qualificationinformation entered and stored in the vendor records;

[0017]FIG. 6 is a flowchart illustrating exemplary steps for enteringand confirming vendor qualification information, in accordance withembodiments of the present invention;

[0018]FIG. 7 is a screen shot of an exemplary web page illustratingsample approved vendor qualification information;

[0019]FIG. 8 is a database table view illustrating the storage of vendorcriteria information in the buyer records;

[0020]FIG. 9 is a flowchart illustrating exemplary steps for enteringand configuring general buyer-defined vendor criteria information, inaccordance with embodiments of the present invention;

[0021]FIGS. 10A and 10B are screen shots of exemplary web pagesillustrating a sample user interface for configuring general vendorcriteria information;

[0022]FIG. 11 is a flowchart illustrating exemplary steps for enteringand configuring industry-specific buyer-defined vendor criteriainformation, in accordance with embodiments of the present invention;

[0023]FIGS. 12A and 12B are screen shots of exemplary web pagesillustrating a sample user interface for configuring industry-specificvendor criteria information;

[0024]FIG. 13 is a flowchart illustrating exemplary steps for enteringindustry-related vendor criteria information into an industry record, inaccordance with embodiments of the present invention;

[0025]FIG. 14 is a flowchart illustrating exemplary steps forcalculating statistical data and storing the statistical data asindustry-related vendor criteria information into an industry record, inaccordance with embodiments of the present invention;

[0026]FIG. 15A is a data view illustrating the types of data stored inan industry record;

[0027]FIG. 15B is a screen shot of an exemplary web page displayingindustry-related vendor criteria information;

[0028]FIG. 16 is a data flow diagram illustrating a vendor qualificationtool for comparing vendor qualification information with vendor criteriainformation, in accordance with embodiments of the present invention;

[0029]FIG. 17 is a table illustrating the comparison of vendorqualification information and vendor criteria information to qualify avendor per industry or per buyer;

[0030]FIG. 18 is a flowchart illustrating exemplary steps for qualifyingvendors on a per industry or per client basis, in accordance withembodiments of the present invention;

[0031]FIG. 19 is a data flow diagram illustrating a statistical tool forcalculating and providing industry statistical data related to one ormore vendor records and/or buyer records, in accordance with embodimentsof the present invention;

[0032]FIGS. 20A and 20B are screen shots illustrating exemplary webpages displaying statistical industry data related to vendors andbuyers;

[0033]FIG. 21 is a flow chart illustrating exemplary steps forcalculating and providing statistical data related to one or more vendorrecords and/or buyer records, in accordance with embodiments of thepresent invention;

[0034]FIG. 22 is a data flow diagram illustrating a vendor maintenancetool for maintaining vendor qualification, in accordance withembodiments of the present invention;

[0035]FIG. 23 is a flowchart illustrating exemplary steps formaintaining vendor qualification, in accordance with embodiments of thepresent invention; and

[0036]FIG. 24 is a flowchart illustrating exemplary steps formaintaining current vendor qualification information, in accordance withembodiments of the present invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF EXEMPLARY EMBODIMENTS

[0037] The numerous innovative teachings of the present application willbe described with particular reference to exemplary embodiments.However, it should be understood that these embodiments provide only afew examples of the many advantageous uses of the innovative teachingsherein. In general, statements made in the specification do notnecessarily delimit any of the various claimed inventions. Moreover,some statements may apply to some inventive features, but not to others.

[0038] In accordance with embodiments of the present invention, a vendoris any provider of goods and/or services, and a buyer is any purchaserof goods and/or services. Each buyer has specific requirements for thegoods and services used by the buyer. These goods and services can rangefrom manufacturing components to labor resources (e.g., contractors,temporary employees and permanent employees). Likewise, each industryhas specific requirements for the goods and services used in theindustry. Qualifying a vendor to do business in a particular industry orwith a particular buyer is accomplished using embodiments of the presentinvention.

[0039]FIG. 1 is a high-level functional view of the vendor qualificationprocess involved in the present invention. Vendor qualificationinformation 235 is collected by a data warehouse repository 30 frommultiple vendors 10 a . . . 10 n. For example, the vendor qualificationinformation can be collected from an individual 10 a, business entity 10b or any other vendor 10 n that provide goods and/or services. Inaddition, buyer-defined vendor criteria information 255 is collected bythe data warehouse repository 30 from one or more buyers 50 a . . . 50n. For example, the buyer 50 can be an individual 50 a, business entity50 b or any other buyer 50 n that has a need to qualify vendors.

[0040] Furthermore, industry-related vendor criteria information 265 iscollected by the data warehouse repository 30 from one or more industrysources 80 a . . . 80 n. For example, the industry-related vendorcriteria information 265 can be collected from an individual 80 a havingexpertise in a particular industry, periodicals 80 b (e.g., newspapers,magazines, etc.) related to the industry, Internet web sites 80 c havingindustry-related information, industry seminars 80 d, business entitiesin the industry 80 e and any other source 80 n of industry-relatedvendor criteria information 265. In one embodiment, business entityindustry sources 80 e can include multiple buyers 50 and/or vendors 10,and the industry-related vendor criteria information 265 can includestatistical data pertaining to the vendor criteria information 255provided by buyers 50 and/or statistical data pertaining to the vendorqualification information 235 provided by vendors 10.

[0041] The vendor qualification information 235, buyer-defined vendorcriteria information 255 and industry-related vendor criteriainformation 265 collected by the data warehouse repository 30 are allorganized in mirroring hierarchical and relational structures tofacilitate efficient and effective comparison of the vendorqualification information 235 to the vendor criteria information 255and/or 265. For example, the vendor qualification information 235 andvendor criteria information 255 and 265 can be categorized based uponindustry criteria (e.g., certification and insurance requirements),location and business type.

[0042] To qualify vendors for particular industries and/or particularbuyers, the data warehouse repository 30 can further compare thecollected vendor qualification information 235 to the collected vendorcriteria information 255/265. All of the qualified vendors for aparticular buyer can be output to the particular buyer in the form of abuyer list 258. In addition, all of the buyers and/or industries that aparticular vendor is qualified for can be output to the particularvendor in the form of a vendor list 238.

[0043] In accordance with embodiments of the present invention, the datawarehouse repository 30 can be implemented within a computer system 100,as is shown FIG. 2. A user 5 can enter the computer system 100 through adata network 40 via a web browser 20. A user 5 includes any personassociated with a vendor 10 any person associated with a buyer 50 or anyadministrative person associated with the computer system 100 andproviding information from an industry source 80. By way of example, butnot limitation, the data network 40 can be the Internet or an Intranet,and the web browser 20 can be any available web browser or any type ofInternet Service Provider (ISP) connection that provides access to thedata network 40. Vendor users 5 access the computer system through avendor browser 20 a, buyer users 5 access the computer system via abuyer browser 20 b and administrative users 5 access the computer systemthrough an administrative browser 20 c. The users 5 access the computersystem 100 through a web server 120 capable of pushing web pages to thevendor browser 20 a and buyer browser 20 b, respectively. The web server120 can be, for example, a Microsoft Internet Information Services (IIS)server.

[0044] The web server 120 enables vendors 10 and buyers 50 to interfaceto a database 150 maintaining vendor qualification information 235within vendor records 220, buyer-defined vendor criteria information 255within buyer records 250 and industry-related vendor criteriainformation 265 within industry records 260. The database 150 can be,for example, a SQL server. The database 150 further stores vendor fields220 including vendor selection data 222 used for soliciting the vendorqualification information 235 from the vendors 10, buyer fields 240including buyer selection data 242 used for soliciting the buyer-definedvendor criteria information 255 from the buyers 50 and industry fields270 used for soliciting industry-related vendor criteria information 265from industry sources 80.

[0045] The database 150 interface to the vendor users 5 is provided bythe web server 120 through a vendor module 180. For example, the vendormodule 180 can populate web pages pushed to the vendor browser 20 ausing the vendor selection data 222 within the vendor fields 220 storedin the database 150. In addition, the vendor module 180 can store thevendor qualification information 235 entered by the vendor user 5 at thevendor browser 20 a into the vendor records 230 stored in the database150.

[0046] The database 150 interface to the buyer users 5 is provided bythe web server 120 through a buyer module 190. For example, the buyermodule 190 can populate web pages pushed to the buyer browser 20 b usingthe buyer selection data 242 within the buyer fields 240 stored in thedatabase 150. In addition, the buyer module 190 can store thebuyer-defined vendor criteria information 255 entered by the buyer user5 at the buyer browser 20 b into the buyer records 250 stored in thedatabase 150.

[0047] The database 150 interface to the industry source users 5 isprovided by the web server 120 through an administrative module 195. Forexample, the administrative module 195 can populate web pages pushed tothe administrative browser 20 c using the industry selection data 272within the industry fields 270 stored in the database 150. In addition,the administrative module 195 can store the industry-related vendorcriteria information 265 entered by the industry source user 5 at theadministrative browser 20 c into the industry records 260 stored in thedatabase 150. In one embodiment, the industry-related vendor criteriainformation 265 indicates industry-defined requirements for a vendor 10to do business in a particular industry. In another embodiment, theindustry-related vendor criteria information 265 can include, inaddition to the industry-defined requirements or in place of theindustry-defined requirements, statistical data collected from buyerrecords 250 and/or vendor records 230 related to a particular industry.

[0048] The vendor module 180, buyer module 190 and administrative module195 all serve as user interfaces to the computer system 100. The modules180, 190 and 195 each present similar hierarchical and table-driven userinterfaces to users 5 in order to enable a user to enter information235, 255 or 265 into the database 150. It should be noted that thevendor module 180, buyer module 190 and administrative module 195 caneach include any hardware, software and/or firmware required to performthe functions of the vendor module 180, buyer module 190 andadministrative module 195, and can be implemented as part of the webserver 120, or within an additional server (not shown).

[0049] The computer system 100 uses the vendor qualification information235 stored in the vendor records 230 and the buyer-defined vendorcriteria information 255 stored in the buyer records 250 to qualify eachof the vendors 10 to do business with each of the buyers 50. Inaddition, the computer system 100 can further use the industry-relatedvendor criteria information 265 stored in the industry records 260 toqualify each of the vendors 10 to do business in specific industries inaddition to or in place of qualifying each of the vendors 10 for each ofthe buyers 50. Industries and buyers are hereinafter referred tocollectively as qualifiers. In other embodiments, the industry-relatedvendor criteria information 265 can be used to compare vendors 10 toindustry standards (static or dynamic) or as a benchmarking tool forbuyers when entering buyer-defined vendor criteria information 255 orfor vendors when entering vendor qualification information 235.

[0050] In another embodiment, as shown in FIG. 3, instead of qualifyingvendors for a plurality of buyers, the computer system 100 can beimplemented solely at the buyer network to enable a particular buyer toqualify vendors 10 for only that buyer. In FIG. 2, vendor users 5 enterthe computer system 100 via a data network 40 through a vendor browser20 a, as in FIG. 1. However, the web server 120 in FIG. 3 is a buyer webserver controlled and operated by a single buyer. The database 150stores the vendor fields 220 shown in FIG. 2 and can further storevendor records 230 for only the vendors 10 that are qualified by thebuyer, or vendor records 230 for all vendors 10 that enter vendorqualification information 235 into the computer system 100, dependingupon the buyer constraints. However, only those vendors 10 that qualifyto do business with the buyer based upon a comparison between theentered vendor qualification information 235 and buyer-defined vendorcriteria information (that may or may not be stored in the database 150)are used by the buyer in selecting a particular vendor 10 to provide agood and/or service to the buyer. For example, the buyer can sendRFP/RFQ's to qualified vendors 10 or select a particular qualifiedvendor 10 based on the vendor qualification information 235 entered bythe vendor 10.

[0051] Referring now to FIG. 4, an exemplary functional view of thevendor, buyer and industry record creation process is shown. A vendoruser, a buyer user or an administrative user accesses the web server 120of the computer system 100 by connecting a computer 60 to a data network40. The computer 60 can be, for example, a personal computer, a laptopcomputer, a computer connected to a wireless device for remote access tothe data network, a handheld wireless device providing a web browsercapable of accessing the data network or other type of machineimplementing a web browser.

[0052] Upon entering the Uniform Resource Locator (URL) of the webserver 120, a connection between the computer 60 and the web server 120is created. The web server 120 pushes web pages 125 to the computer 60for viewing by the user on a user interface device 65. In oneembodiment, the user interface device 65 can be, for example, a computerscreen 15 connected to the computer 60. For example, once a user hasbeen validated (i.e., by entering a user name and password), the usercan view one or more web pages 125 on the computer screen 65, eachcontaining prompts for the user to enter various information into thecomputer system 100. The user can enter the information into thecomputer 60 for transmission via the data network 40 to the web server120 via any type of input device 70, such as, for example, a mouse (asillustrated), keyboard, touch screen, voice recognition software orlight pen. The subsequent web pages 125 that are pushed to the computer60 are based upon the information entered by the user in response to theprompts. In addition, the web pages 125 can be pushed to the computer 10one-at-a-time or in bulk, depending upon the type of information beingsolicited by the computer system 100 and the settings of the computersystem 100.

[0053] For example, as can be seen in FIG. 4, the web page 125 displayedon the computer screen 65 asks the user “What is the SIC Division?” Theweb page 125 further prompts the user to select from several SICDivision choices (only three of which are displayed). The user selectsone of the SIC Division choices, using the input device 70, and theselected vendor qualification information 235 or vendor criteriainformation 255 or 265 is transmitted from the computer 60 to the webserver 120 via the data network 40. Based upon the selected vendorqualification information 235 or vendor criteria information 255 or 265,the web server 120 selects and provides subsequent web pages 125 to thecomputer 60 to solicit additional information. As shown in FIG. 4, theuser selected the choice “Mining,” and in response, the web server 120can push one or more “Mining Web Pages” 125 to the computer 60.

[0054] Each web page 125 pushed to the computer 60 is populated withdata retrieved by the vendor module 180, buyer module 190 oradministrative module 195 from the vendor fields 220, buyer fields 240or industry fields 270, respectively, stored within the database 150.The web server 120 uses the vendor module 180, the buyer module 190 oradministrative module 195 based upon the log-in of the user. The vendorfields 220 include vendor selection data 222, such as the vendorselections or prompts to be displayed on the web pages 125 to the vendoruser, the buyer fields 240 include buyer selection data 242, such as thebuyer selections or prompts to be displayed on the web pages 125 to thebuyer, and the industry fields 270 include industry selection data 272,such as the industry selections or prompts to be displayed on the webpages 125 to the administrative user. For example, if the user is avendor user, the vendor module 180 receives the vendor qualificationinformation 235 entered by the vendor user from the web server 120 andaccesses the vendor fields 220 to retrieve the vendor selection data 222to be populated in subsequent web pages 125 (e.g., “Mining” web pages125).

[0055] The vendor fields 220, buyer fields 240 and industry fields 270are organized in a hierarchical relationship to enable the vendor module180, buyer module 190 and industry module 195, respectively, todetermine the appropriate fields to use for populating subsequent webpages 125. For example, the vendor module 180 can include a pointer (notshown) that points to a particular vendor field 220 in the database 150.When the vendor module 180 receives new vendor qualification information235 from the web server 120, the vendor module 180 uses the pointer tolocate the current vendor field 220 associated with the previous vendorqualification information 235 and moves the pointer to the next vendorfield 220 associated with the new vendor qualification information 235.The buyer module and administrative module can be similarly configured.

[0056] The vendor fields 220, buyer fields 240 and industry fields 270are scalable and configurable per buyer and/or per industry to meet theneeds of each particular industry and each particular buyer within theindustry. Thus, new vendor fields 220, buyer fields 240 and industryfields 270 and new data 222, 242 or 272 within the vendor fields 220,buyer fields 240 and industry fields 270, respectively, can be easilyadded to the database 150 at any time. In addition, vendors, buyers andadministrative users can update their records 230, 250 and 260,respectively, at any time with the new data and/or fields 220, 240 and270, respectively. For example, the computer system 100 can send updatemessages (e.g., via electronic mail messages or dashboard posting) tothe vendors, buyers and industry source users with the new data and/orfields 220, 240 and 270 available. The update message can be sent to allvendors, buyers and industry source users registered with the computersystem 100 or to only those vendors, buyers and industry source userswho have a need to update their records 230, 250 or 260, respectively,based on the new data and/or field 220, 240 or 270 (e.g., all vendorsand buyers in a particular industry related to the new data and/or field220 or 240, all vendors pre-qualified for a particular buyer, etc.).

[0057] Examples of vendor fields 220, buyer fields 240 and industryfields 270 stored within the database 150 are illustrated in Tables 1-4below. The fields 220, 240 and 270 are illustrated for simplicity asbeing organized in a table format, with each table including all of thefields 220, 240 and 270 necessary for displaying vendor selection data222, buyer selection data 242 or industry selection data 272 on aparticular web page. The tables are related in a hierarchical manner,such that the tables are accessed in a particular order. TABLE 1tblSICDivisions ASP_Display_Order SIC_Division_Name SIC_Division_Code_ID10 Agriculture, Forestry, and Fishing 1 9 Mining 2 8 Construction 3 7Manufacturing 4 6 Transportation, Communications, 5 Electric, Gas andSanitary Services 5 Wholesale Trade 6 4 Retail Trade 7 3 Finance,Insurance, and Real Estate 8 2 Services 9 1 Public Administration 10

[0058] TABLE 2 tblSICMajorGroup ASP_Display_Order SIC_MajorGroup_NameSIC_MajorGroup_Code_ID SIC_Division_Code_ID 2 Wholesale Trade - Durable50 6 Goods 1 Whole Trade - Non- 51 6 Durable Goods

[0059] TABLE 3 tblSICIndustryGroup ASP_Display_OrderSIC_IndustryGroup_Name SIC_IndustryGroup_Code_ID SIC_MajorGroup_Code_ID9 Motor Vehicles and Motor 501 50 Vehicle Parts 8 Furniture and Home 50250 Furnishings 7 Lumber and Other 503 50 Construction Material 6Professional and Commercial 504 50 Equipment 5 Metals and Minerals 50550 4 Electrical Goods 506 50 3 Hardware, Plumbing and 507 50 Heating 2Machinery Equipment and 508 50 Supplies 1 Miscellaneous Durable Goods509 50

[0060] TABLE 4 tblSICIndustries ASP_Display_Order SIC_Industry_NameSIC_Industry_Code_ID SIC_IndustryGroup_Code_ID 2 Furniture 5021 502 1Home Furnishings 5023 502

[0061] The fields shown in Tables 1-4 above contain selection data forsoliciting profiling information from the vendors, buyers or industrysource to categorize the type of good and/or service the vendorprovides, the buyer desires or the industry is associated with. Theselection data shown in Tables 1-4 above is based upon the StandardIndustrial Classification (SIC) system provided by the OccupationalSafety and Health Administration (OSHA) of the U.S. Department of Labor.However, it should be understood that any classification system can beused instead of the SIC system described herein.

[0062] For example, as shown in Table 1, the computer system 100 candefine the type of good and/or service by enabling the vendor module180, buyer module 190 or administrative module 195 to retrieve a “SICDivisions” table from the database 150 and populate the next web page125 with selection data 222, 242 or 272, respectively, containing theten SIC division types: Agriculture, Forestry and Fishing; Mining;Construction; Manufacturing; Transportation, Communications, Electric,Gas and Sanitary Services; Wholesale Trade; Retail Trade; Finance,Insurance and Real Estate Services; Services; and Public Administration.The “SIC Divisions” table in Table 1 includes a SIC_Division_Code_IDfield listing the SIC identification numbers of each of the SICdivisions, a SIC_Division_Name field listing the names of the SICdivisions to be displayed on the web page and an ASP_Display_Order fieldlisting the display order for the SIC divisions on the web page.

[0063] Assuming the user selects “Wholesale Trade” as the SIC Division,the computer system can further define the type of wholesale trade byaccesses a “SIC Major Group” table within the database and populatingthe next web page with wholesale trade major groups for the user tochoose from, as shown in Table 2. The “Wholesale Trade” table in Table 2includes a SIC_MajorGroup_Code_ID field listing the SIC identificationnumbers of each of the major groups and the SIC_Division_Code_ID fieldlisting the SIC division code for each of the major groups. However, forsimplicity, only the major groups associated with one particular SICdivision are shown in Table 2 (e.g., Wholesale Trade—Durable Goods andWholesale Trade—Non-Durable Goods). In addition, the “Wholesale Trade”table above further includes a SIC_MajorGroup_Name field listing thenames of the Wholesale Trade major groups and an ASP_Display_Order fieldlisting the display order for the major groups on the web page. Itshould be understood that the major groups for each of the SIC divisionscan be can be subdivided into separate tables.

[0064] Assuming the user selects “Wholesale Trade—Durable Goods” as theSIC Major Group, the computer system can further define the type ofwholesale durable goods that the vendor provides by accessing a “SICIndustry Group Wholesale Trade—Durable Goods” table above within thedatabase and populating the next web page with appropriate industrygroups for the user to select from, as shown in Table 3. Variousexemplary industry groups for only the wholesale trade—durable goodsmajor group are illustrated in Table 3 (for simplicity), with eachSIC_IndustryGroup_Name field having a particularSIC_IndustryGroup_Code_ID field associated therewith for determiningwhich the SIC identification numbers of each of the industry groups, anSIC_MajorGroup_Code_ID field associated therewith for determining theindustry groups associated with the selected major group and anASP_Display_Order field associated therewith for determining the displayorder of the SIC industry groups.

[0065] Assuming the user selects “Furniture and Home Furnishings” as theSIC Industry Group, the computer system can further define the type ofindustry associated with the vendor by accessing a “SIC IndustriesFurniture” table within the database 150 and populating the next webpage with appropriate industries for the user to select from, as shownin Table 4. Various exemplary industries for only the “Furniture andHome Furnishings” industry group are illustrated in Table 4 (forsimplicity), with each SIC_Industry_Name field having a particularSIC_Industry_Code_ID field associated therewith for determining whichthe SIC identification numbers of each of the industry groups, anSIC_IndustryGroup_Code_ID field associated therewith for determining theindustries associated with the selected industry group and anASP_Display_Order field associated therewith for determining the displayorder of the SIC industries.

[0066] The type of good and/or service can be further defined by theuser, and information specific to a particular type of good and/orservice can be solicited from the user using subsequent tables, notshown. In addition, it should be understood that the computer systemdoes not limit each vendor or buyer to only one good and/or service.Therefore, each vendor or buyer can enter multiple goods and/orservices. In general, the computer system does not limit each vendor,buyer or administrator to only one data entry for each field or only onedata entry for each table, so that vendors, buyers and administratorscan adequately describe all of the goods and/or services associatedtherewith and all of the relevant qualification information associatedwith the goods and/or services.

[0067] Turning again to FIG. 4, all of the information entered by theuser (i.e., vendor qualification information 235 or vendor criteriainformation 255 or 265) and received at the web server 120 is stored ina vendor record 230, a buyer record 250 or an industry record 260 withinthe database 150 (as described above in connection with FIG. 2) via thevendor module 180, buyer module 190 and administrative module 195,respectively. The vendor qualification information 235 and the vendorcriteria information 255 or 265 in the vendor record 230, buyer record250 and industry record 260, respectively, are organized in the samehierarchical and relational manner as the vendor fields 220, buyerfields 240 and industry fields 270, respectively.

[0068] For example, referring now to Tables 5-7 hereinbelow, examples ofthe type of vendor qualification information 235 stored in a vendorrecord 230 are illustrated. TABLE 5 tblVendorMaster Vendor QualificationColumn Name Data Type Length Information Vendor_ID int 4 XXXvCompany_Name nvarchar 100 ABC v_Parent_Company_Name nvarchar 100vCountry_ID int 4 1 vYear_Corp int 4 10 vBusiness_Entity_Type_ID int 4 1vDiversified_Business_Entity char 1 Y vDBE_Type_ID int 4 1, 2, 3, 4, 7,8, 9 vDBE_Certificate_Number varchar 50 C57Z vDBE_Certifying_Bodyvarchar 100 XYZ vDBE_Certifying_State_ID int 4 3 vFederal_Tax_IDnvarchar 50 2F22 vFull_Time_Employee_Count numeric 9 500vW_2_Employee_Count numeric 9 1,000 vNet_Worth money 8 1,000,000vPrior_Year_Revenue money 8 2,000,000 vPrior_Year_Profit money 8 750,000vPrior_Year_Tax_Filing char 1 Y vPrior_Year_Audited_Statement char 1 YvPrevious_Bankruptcy char 1 N vEDI_Capability char 1 Y vEFT_Capabilitychar 1 Y vDun_Bradstreet_ID nvarchar 50 vDun_Bradstreet_Rating nvarchar50 vJD_Power_Rating varchar 50 vWeb_Site_URL varchar 100www.vendorcompany.com vCorporate_Location_Phone varchar 50 214-555-1212vCorporate_Location_Fax varchar 50 214-555-1213vCorporate_Location_Email varchar 50 vendor@vendorcompany.comvContracted bit 1 0 vContract_Number varchar 50 vContract_Start_Datedatetime 8 vContract_Expiration_Date datetime 8 vApproval_Status_ID int4 1 vCurrent_Status_ID int 4 1 vInformation_Profile_Complete char 1 YvCreate_Date datetime 8 dd/mm/yyyy vData_Renewal_Date datetime 8dd/mm/yyyy

[0069] TABLE 6 Business Entity Types 1 ‘S’ Corporation 2 GeneralPartnership 3 Limited Liability Company 4 Sole Proprietorship 5 Other 6‘C’ Corporation 7 Limited Partnership 8 Limited Liability Partnership 9Close Corporation 10 Professional Business Formation 11 PLC 12 Franchise

[0070] TABLE 7 Diversified Supplier Types African_American_Male 1African_American_Female 2 Hispanic_Male 3 Hispanic_Female 4 Hasidic_Male5 Hasidic_Female 6 White_Female 7 Oriental_Male 8 Oriental_Female 9Island_Pacific_Male 10 Island_Pacific_Female 11 Indian_Male 12Indian_Female 13 Disabled_American_War_Veteran 14

[0071] Table 5 shows a “Vendor Master” table that contains a number ofvendor fields 220 and associated data entries 235 that provide basicvendor identification information, such as the vendor ID within thecomputer system, the company name, the company phone number and otherbasic identification information. Each vendor field 220 within the“Vendor Master” table is capable of supporting different data types(e.g., int, nvarchar, char, varchar, bit and datetime) of different datalengths. For example, the field 220 “vBusiness_Entity_Type_ID” iscapable of supporting an intermittent number of numeric values,depending upon how the vendor's business is classified. Table 6illustrates examples of the various business entity types and listsexemplary numeric identities assigned to each business entity type forthat vendor field 220. The numeric identity of each business entity typethat applies to the vendor can be stored in the“vBusiness_Entity_Type_ID” field 220. As another example, the field 220“vDiversified_Business_Entity” is capable of supporting a singlecharacter (Y or N), depending upon whether the vendor has been certifiedas a diversified business. Table 7 illustrates examples of the variousdiversified vendor types, and the field 220 “vDBE Type ID” includes eachdiversified type ID that the vendor has been certified for.

[0072] Referring now to Tables 8-11 hereinbelow, additional vendorqualification information 235 provided by vendors are illustrated.Tables 8-10 illustrate insurance information, while Table 11 illustratescertification information. TABLE 8 tblVendorInsurance (db structureview) Column Name Data Type Length Vendor_Insurance_ID int 4 viVendor_IDint 4 viCarrier_Name varchar 50 viCarrier_ID int 4 viPolicy_Numbervarchar 50 viPolicy_Exp_Date dateline 8 vi_Policy_Amount_ID int 4vi_Policy_Currency_ID int 4 viPStaff_Insured char 1 viBuyer_Insured char1 viType_ID int 4 Insurance_Coverage_Type_ID int 4 viApproval_Status_IDint 4 viCurrent_Status int 4 viApproval_Date datetime 8

[0073] TABLE 9 Data from tblluInsuranceType General_Liability 1Errors_&_Omissions 2 Automobile 3 Employee_Dishonesty 4Employer_Liability-Workman's_Comp 5 Hazard_Insurance 6 Flood_Insurance 7Fire_Marine_Casualty_Insurance 8 Surety_Insurance 9 Life_Insurance 10

[0074] TABLE 10 Data from tblluInsuranceCoverageType Per_Occurrence 1Aggregate 2

[0075] TABLE 11 tblVendorCertification Column Name Data Type LengthVendor_ID int 4 SIC_Code_ID int 4 Certification_Type_ID int 4Certificate_# varchar 100 Certifying_Body varchar 100Certificate_Expiration_Date datetime 8 GEO_Country_ID int 4GEO_Region_ID int 4 GEO_City_ID int 4 Record_Date datetime 8Approval_Status_ID int 4 Current_Status_ID int 4

[0076] As shown in Tables 8-10 above, the vendor record can furtherinclude one or more tables under the “Vendor Master” table that includedata (not shown) indicating the various carriers and types of insurancecoverage the vendor maintains. Table 8 illustrates a sample “VendorInsurance” table and exemplary vendor fields included within the “VendorInsurance” table, each having a different data type. It should be notedthat each “Vendor Insurance” table can include multiple records if thevendor has multiple insurance carriers. Table 9 illustrates examples ofthe various types of insurance that the vendor can provide and theassociated data (i.e., numeric values for each insurance type) that canbe populated in the “viType_ID” field of the “Vendor Insurance” table.Table 10 illustrates examples of the various insurance coverage typesand the associated data (i.e., numeric values for each insurancecoverage type) that can be populated in the “Insurance_Coverage_Type_ID”field of the “Vendor Insurance” table.

[0077] Table 11 illustrates a sample “Vendor Certification” table andexemplary vendor fields included within the “Vendor Certification”table, each having a different data type. The “Vendor Certification”table can be used to store certification information for the vendorrelated to each industry (good and/or service) that the vendor isassociated with and each geographical area that the vendor provides thegood and/or service. The certification can be required by a national orlocal regulatory authority (and thus, the geographical area can bedefined at the national or local level) or by an industry group thatcertifies members of the industry (and thus, the geographical area canbe undefined). It should be noted that each “Vendor Certification” tablecan include multiple records if the vendor industry requires multiplecertifications and/or provides multiple goods and/or services.

[0078]FIGS. 5A and 5B are database table views illustrating theinterrelation between various different types of vendor fields 220containing vendor qualification information (not shown) entered andstored in the vendor records 230. The “Vendor Master” table 231 a, shownin Table 5 above, stores all of the general vendor profile information.The “Vendor Master” table 231 a is tied to an SIC Industries table 231 ethat contains industry-specific vendor profile information to identifythe specific industries that the vendor provides goods and/or servicesin. The geographical area(s) associated with the selected industries canbe defined using a “SIC Countries” table 231 i to identify the countrywhere the vendor provides a certain good and/or service. Thegeographical area(s) can be further defined using a “SIC Region” table231 j and a “SIC City” table 231 k. It should be understood thatadditional tables can be included to more concisely define the locationswhere the vendor is capable of providing goods and/or services, such asa “Zip Code” table (not shown), depending upon the needs of the buyerand/or the industry.

[0079] The “SIC Country”, “SIC Region” and “SIC City” tables 231 i-k arepopulated based upon values stored in master geographical tables “GEOCountries” 23 If, “GEO Regions” 231 g and “GEO Cities” 231 h. The mastergeographical tables 231 f-h constrain the data stored in the SICgeographical tables 231 i-k based upon available geographical selections(e.g., the SIC region stored is based upon the GEO Regions associatedwith the stored SIC country, the SIC region and SIC city selections canbe set to “all” to cover all SIC regions and SIC cities within the GEORegions and GEO Cities tables if the vendor provides goods and/orservices throughout a particular country, etc.). The “SIC Industries”table 231 e is populated based upon the selected SIC division, SIC majorgroup and SIC industry group and SIC industry, shown as SIC tables 231b-d. The SIC tables 231 b-e are associated in a hierarchical andrelational structure. For example, the “Major Group” table 231 c is asecond tier table to the “SIC Division” table 231 b in that the “MajorGroup” table 231 c lists the SIC identification of the major group andthe SIC identification of the division associated with the major group.Other tables 231 l-t, shown in FIG. 5B, can also be included in thevendor record 230 to further define other aspects of the vendor, such asthe insurance information (tables 231 l-p), certification information(tables 231 q-r), business information (table 231 s) and minorityinformation (table 231 t).

[0080] Many of the tables shown in FIG. 5A include an approval field 220that indicates whether or not the vendor qualification informationentered by the vendor has been approved by the computer system. Forexample, the vendor location tables 231 i-k each include the field 220“vApproval_Status_ID.” Initially, the data (not shown) within the“vApproval_Status_ID” field 220 is set by the computer system to“approval waiting” while the computer system verifies the locationinformation entered by the vendor. Once the location information hasbeen verified, the data within the “vApproval_Status_ID” field 220 ischanged to “approved.” However, if the location information is incorrector not able to be verified, the data within the “vApproval_Status_ID”field 220 is set to “declined” and the vendor is notified (e.g., viae-mail) that the vendor is not able to be qualified by any buyer and/orindustry due to unverifiable location information. The computer systemenables the vendor to correct the location information stored in thevendor record 230 or to provide verification of the location informationto the operator of the computer system (e.g., by e-mailing or mailingthe verification information to an employee of the company operating thecomputer system).

[0081]FIG. 6 is a flowchart illustrating exemplary steps for enteringand confirming vendor qualification information, in accordance withembodiments of the present invention. Initially, a vendor user accessesthe computer system and logs-in using, for example, a user name andpassword, to authenticate the vendor user to the computer system (step300). The user name and/or password can be unique to each user at aparticular vendor (e.g., to enable vendors to control the types ofinformation that a particular user can modify or add), or one user nameand password can be associated with all users at a particular vendor.Once the vendor user has been authenticated, the vendor user can entervendor qualification information into the computer system (step 305), asdescribed above. For example, the vendor user can be prompted to entervendor qualification information in the hierarchical and relationalmanner described above by pushing web pages populated with vendor fieldsand vendor selection data to the vendor user and storing received vendorqualification information into fields within a vendor record associatedwith the vendor. Alternatively, if the vendor user is updating existingvendor qualification information, the vendor user can be prompted toindicate the type of information the vendor user would like to update,and in response, the computer system can push web pages to the vendoruser having vendor selection data associated with only the vendorqualification information that the vendor user would like to update.

[0082] There are certain vendor fields that the computer system mayrequire all vendors to fill out, such as the vendor name, and dependingupon the type of good and/or service the vendor provides, there may becertain vendor fields that the computer system requires vendorsproviding that good and/or service to fill out, such as insuranceinformation for particular services. If the vendor user does not fillout one or more of the required fields (step 310), the computer systemprompts the vendor user to fill out those required fields (step 315).Once all of the required fields are complete (step 310), the computersystem provides the vendor user with a message indicating that thevendor qualification information (new or changed) has been received andforwarded to the computer system for review (step 320).

[0083] All of the entered vendor qualification information is stored ina vendor record for the vendor in a database, and all “approval” fieldsassociated with particular entered vendor qualification information areautomatically set to “approval waiting” (step 325). Operators of thecomputer system are notified of the “approval waiting” status forparticular vendor qualification information, and attempt to verify theentered vendor qualification information (step 330). For example, if thevendor user entered vendor qualification information indicating that thevendor provides tax solutions in a specific geographical area, thecomputer system operator could be prompted to verify that the vendoremploys staff capable of providing tax solutions in that particulargeographical area. As another example, if the vendor user enteredcertification or insurance information, the computer system operatorcould be prompted to verify that the vendor is certified or has theinsurance that the vendor user entered by requesting hard copies ofdocumentation or other type of verifiable proof that the vendor isactually certified or has the insurance that the vendor user entered.

[0084] If the entered vendor qualification information is verified (step335), the “approval” field in the vendor record is changed to “approved”(step 340). If the entered vendor qualification information is updatedvendor qualification information intended by the vendor to replacepreviously entered vendor qualification information, the “currentstatus” field of any previously stored vendor qualification informationin the vendor record is set to “outdated” to indicate that there is newvendor qualification information that replaces the previously enteredvendor qualification information. In other embodiments, the new vendorqualification information can simply replace the previously enteredvendor qualification information, thereby effectively deleting thepreviously entered vendor qualification information from the database.Thereafter, the vendor user is notified via e-mail or via a dashboardaccessible to the vendor user via the vendor browser that the updated ornewly entered vendor qualification information has been approved by thecomputer system (step 345). It should be understood that if the vendoruser entered vendor qualification information that did not requireapproval of the computer system, the vendor user would simply benotified via e-mail or dashboard display that the updated or newlyentered vendor qualification information was received and recorded.

[0085] However, if the entered vendor qualification information cannotbe verified (step 335), the operator changes the “approval” field in thevendor record to “declined” (e.g., via the input device shown in FIG. 3)(step 350), and the vendor user is notified via e-mail or via adashboard that the vendor qualification information was not able to beverified (step 355).

[0086]FIG. 7 is a screen shot of an exemplary web page that could bedisplayed on a dashboard to an administrative user to provide vendorapproval information. (A similar view could be displayed to vendorusers). As can be seen in FIG. 7, the user can be provided summaryinformation concerning each SIC industry and associated geographicalarea that a particular vendor is approved for. From this web page, theuser can view more detailed information and modify existing information.Although not shown, the dashboard can further provide summaryinformation for each SIC industry and associated geographical area thatthe vendor is not approved for, or that has approval waiting.

[0087] Examples of the type of buyer-defined vendor criteria information255 stored in a buyer record 250 are illustrated hereinbelow in Tables12-15. The buyer-defined vendor criteria information 255 can be storedin the same hierarchical manner as the vendor qualification information235, mirroring the buyer fields 240 stored in the database 150. TABLE 12tblBuyerMaster Vendor Criteria Column Name Data Type Length InformationBuyer_ID int 4 XXX bCompany_Name nvarchar 100 ABC bParent_Company_Namenvarchar 100 bCountry_ID int 4 1 bYear_Corp int 4 10bBusiness_Entity_Type_ID int 4 1 bDiversified_Business_Entity char 10 YbDBE_Type_ID int 50 1, 2, 3, 4, 7, 8, 9 bDBE_Certificate_Number varchar50 C57Z bDBE_Certifying_Body varchar 50 XYZ bDBE_Certifying_State_ID int4 3 bFederal_Tax_ID nvarchar 50 2F22 bFull_Time_Employee_Count numeric 9500 bW_2_Employee_Count numeric 9 1,000 bNet_Worth money 8 1,000,000bPrior_Year_Revenue money 8 2,000,000 bPrior_Year_Profit money 8 750,000bPrior_Year_Tax_Filing char 1 Y bPrior_Year_Audited_Statement char 1 YbPrevious_Bankruptcy char 1 N bEDI_Capability char 1 Y bEFT_Capabilitychar 1 Y bDun_Bradstreet_ID nvarchar 50 bDun_Bradstreet_Rating nvarchar50 bCorporate_Location_Phone varchar 50 214-555-1214bCorporate_Location_Fax varchar 50 214-555-1215bCorporate_Location_Email varchar 50 buyer@buyercompany.combCurrent_Status_ID int 4 1 bInformation_Profile_Complete char 1 YbCreate_Date datetime 8 dd/mm/yyyy

[0088] TABLE 13 tblBuyerInsurance Column Name Data Type Length Buyer_IDint 4 SIC_Code_ID int 4 Country_ID int 4 Region_ID int 4 City_ID int 4Insurance_Type_ID int 4 Insurance_Coverage_Type int 4 Coverage_Amountmoney 8 Currency_ID int 4 Create_Date datetime 8 Record_ID int 4

[0089] TABLE 14 tblBuyerCertification Column Name Data Type LengthBuyer_ID int 4 SIC_Code_ID int 4 Country_ID int 4 Region_ID int 4City_ID int 4 Certification_Type_ID int 4 Create_Date datetime 8Record_ID int 4

[0090] TABLE 15 tblBuyerMiscQualifiers Column Name Data Type LengthBuyer_ID int 4 SIC_Code_ID int 4 Vendor_Country_ID int 4Vendor_Region_ID int 4 Vendor_City_ID int 4 Contracted char 1Preferred_Union varchar 255 Previous_Business_Relationship char 1Vendor_Net_Worth money 8 Vendor_Prior_Year_Revenue money 8Vendor_Prior_Year_Profit money 8 Vendor_Prior_Year_Tax_Filing char 1Vendor_Prior_Year_Audit char 1 Vendor_Previous_Bankruptcy char 1Vendor_Year_Corp int 4 Vendor_Business_Entity_Type_ID int 4Vendor_Diversified_Business_Entity char 10 Vendor_DBE_Type_ID int 50Vendor_FTE_Count numeric 9 Vendor_W_2_Employee_Count numeric 9Vendor_EDI_Capability char 1 Vendor_EFT_Capability char 1Vendor_Dun_Bradstreet_Rating nvarchar 50 Create_Date datetime 8Record_ID int 4

[0091] Table 12 shows a “Buyer Master” table that contains a number ofbuyer fields 240 and associated data entries 255 that provide basicbuyer identification information, such as the buyer ID within thecomputer system, the company name, the company phone number and otherbasic identification information. Each buyer field 240 within the “BuyerMaster” table is capable of supporting different data types (e.g., int,nvarchar, char, varchar, bit and datetime) of different data lengths. Asshown in Tables 13-15 above, the buyer record 250 can further includeone or more tables under the “Buyer Master” table that include data (notshown) indicating additional buyer-defined vendor criteria information255. For example, Table 13 illustrates insurance information, Table 14illustrates certification information and Table 15 illustratesmiscellaneous buyer-defined vendor criteria information 255.

[0092]FIG. 8 is a database table view illustrating the storage of vendorcriteria information in the buyer records 250. The “Buyer Master” table251 a, shown in Table 12 above, stores all of the general buyer profileinformation. The “Buyer Master” table 251 a is tied to an SIC Industriestable 251 b that contains industry-specific buyer profile information toidentify the specific industries that the buyer has a need for vendorsin. The geographical area(s) associated with the selected industries canbe defined using a “GEO Countries” table 251 c to identify the countrywhere the buyer has a need for a certain good and/or service. Thegeographical area(s) can be further defined using a “GEO Regions” table251 d and a “GEO Cities” table 251 e (if a buyer only has a need in oneor more regions and/or cities of a particular country). It should beunderstood that the geographical area(s) associated with a particularindustry can be stored in SIC geographical tables, as shown in FIGS. 5Aand 5B, but for simplicity, only the GEO geographical tables are shownin FIG. 8. It should further be understood that additional tables can beincluded to more concisely define the locations where the buyer has aneed for goods and/or services, such as a “Zip Code” table (not shown),depending upon the needs of the buyer. Other qualifier tables, such asthe insurance information table 251 f, certification information table251 g and miscellaneous information table 251 h, can be tied to the“Buyer Master” table 251 a, “SIC Industries” table 251 b andgeographical tables 251 c-e to further define the buyer requirements forvendors.

[0093]FIG. 9 is a flowchart illustrating exemplary steps for enteringand configuring general buyer-defined vendor criteria information, inaccordance with embodiments of the present invention. Generalbuyer-defined vendor criteria information is any data unrelated to aspecific industry. For example, general buyer-defined vendor criteriainformation can include the type of data stored in the “Buyer Master”table, insurance information unrelated to a specific industry or anyother miscellaneous information unrelated to a specific industry.General buyer-defined vendor criteria information will be referred tohereinafter as general profile information.

[0094] Initially, a buyer user accesses the computer system and logs-inusing, for example, a user name and password, to authenticate the buyeruser to the computer system (step 400). The user name and/or passwordcan be unique to each user at a particular buyer (e.g., to enable buyersto control the types of information that a particular user can modify oradd), or one user name and password can be associated with all users ata particular buyer. Once the buyer user has been authenticated, thebuyer user is provided an input user interface to enter general profileinformation into the computer system (step 405), as described above. Forexample, the buyer user can be prompted to enter the general profileinformation in the hierarchical and relational manner described above bypushing web pages populated with buyer fields and buyer selection datato the buyer user. Alternatively, if the buyer user is updating existinggeneral profile information, the buyer user can be prompted to indicatethe type of information the buyer user would like to update, and inresponse, the computer system can push web pages to the buyer userhaving buyer selection data associated with only the general profileinformation that the buyer user would like to update.

[0095] Once the buyer user has completed entering the general profileinformation (step 410), the computer system stores the received generalprofile information in fields within a buyer record associated with thebuyer (step 415). It should be understood that there may be certaingeneral buyer fields that the computer system may require all buyers tofill out, such as the buyer name and phone number. In addition, if theentered general profile information is updated general profileinformation intended by the buyer to replace previously entered generalprofile information, the “current status” field of any previously storedgeneral profile information in the buyer record is set to “outdated” toindicate that there is new general profile information that replaces thepreviously entered general profile information. In other embodiments,the new general profile information can simply replace the previouslyentered general profile information, thereby effectively deleting thepreviously entered general profile information from the database.

[0096] If the entered general profile information is sufficient to meetall of the buyer's requirements (step 420), the process ends (step 425).However, if the buyer user requires additional vendor qualificationsthat the computer system does not provide, the buyer user can furthersubmit a request for a new qualifier (e.g., a request for a new buyerfields and/or buyer selection data within a buyer field) to the computersystem (step 420). Thereafter, the buyer user is provided an input userinterface to allow the buyer user to enter the new qualifier(s) into thecomputer system (step 430). For example, the buyer user can select oneor more existing buyer fields related to the desired new qualifier(s)and enter the new qualifier(s) under that buyer field, or, if noexisting buyer fields are related to the new qualifier, the buyer usercan be provided a blank form to fill out the buyer field(s) and buyerselection data desired within the buyer field(s).

[0097] The new general qualifier information entered by the buyer useris submitted to the computer system for review (step 435). One or moreoperators of the computer system are notified of the new qualifier(s)for a particular buyer user, and after reviewing the new qualifierinformation, the computer system operator determines whether or not thenew qualifier information is approved as a new buyer field and/or buyerselection data in the computer system (step 440). If the new generalqualifier information is not approved, the buyer user is notified viae-mail or via a dashboard accessible to the buyer user via the buyerbrowser that the new qualifier information does not meet the computersystem standards and will not be added (step 445). However, if the newgeneral qualifier information is approved, the buyer user is notifiedvia e-mail or via the dashboard that the new qualifier information hasbeen approved by the computer system (step 450).

[0098] Once the new qualifier information has been approved, thecomputer system updates the database to include new buyer fields and/orbuyer selection data within the buyer fields with the new generalqualifier information (step 455). Thereafter, the buyer user can accessthe computer system to enter updated general profile information usingthe newly added buyer fields and/or buyer selection data (step 460). Theupdated general profile information is further stored in the buyerrecord associated with the buyer user (step 465). It should beunderstood that, although not discussed above, if the vendor foreseesadditional vendor qualifications that the computer system does notprovide, the vendor can create a new vendor field and/or vendorselection data (with approval from the network operator), which can bemirrored in the buyer and/or industry fields to allow a vendor to staycurrent with (or improve upon) industry qualifications. It should alsobe understood that, although not shown in FIG. 9, the general profileinformation entered by the buyer user may require approval by thenetwork operator to ensure that all buyers are submitting correctinformation.

[0099]FIGS. 10A and 10B are screen shots of exemplary web pages 125illustrating a sample user interface for configuring general profileinformation. FIG. 10A shows an example of various general buyer fields240 that can be displayed to a buyer user. For example, the buyer fields240 can include geographical fields, such as a country field, a regionfield and a city field. The buyer user can select the particularcountry, region and city by clicking on links to country selection data,region selection data and city selection data. The user interfaceprovided by the buyer module can further display additional generalbuyer fields and provide additional buyer selection data to the buyeruser, depending upon the requirements of the buyer. For example, thebuyer user can select various business requirements and insurancerequirements that are general to the buyer. In addition, the buyer usercan be provided a link to enter new general qualifier(s) into thecomputer system, as discussed above in connection with FIG. 9. It shouldbe noted that buyers have the capability of creating multiple “GeneralQualification Profiles” based upon business needs and businesslocations.

[0100]FIG. 10B shows an example of general profile information 255entered by a buyer user using the user interface shown in FIG. 10A. Thegeneral profile information 255 can be displayed to the buyer user asthe buyer user is entering the general profile information, and can alsobe accessed by the buyer user at a later time on a dashboard accessibleto a buyer user upon authentication and log-on to view and/or edit thegeneral profile information.

[0101]FIG. 11 is a flowchart illustrating exemplary steps for enteringand configuring industry-specific buyer-defined vendor criteriainformation, in accordance with embodiments of the present invention.Industry-specific buyer-defined vendor criteria information is any datathat is related to a specific industry that the buyer has a need forvendors in. For example, industry-specific buyer-defined vendor criteriainformation can include the industry information stored in an “Industry”table, insurance information related to a specific industry,certification information related to a specific industry, geographicalinformation related to a specific industry or any other miscellaneousinformation related to a specific industry. Industry-specificbuyer-defined vendor criteria information is hereinafter referred to asindustry profile information.

[0102] Initially, a buyer user accesses the computer system and logs-inusing, for example, a user name and password, to authenticate the buyeruser to the computer system (step 500), as discussed above in connectionwith FIG. 9. Once the buyer user has been authenticated, the buyer usercan access an “Industry Profile” link from the home page to enter theindustry profile information (step 505). Alternatively, once the buyeruser has entered the general profile information, the buyer user canlink directly to an “Industry Profile” web page to enter the industryprofile information. Each industry that the buyer user has enteredcriteria for is stored as a separate industry profile within the buyerrecord to distinguish the criteria applicable to each industry (e.g.,the industry table can include several records, each being associatedwith separate insurance table records, certification table records,miscellaneous table records and geographical table records). Allpreviously entered industry profiles associated with the buyer can bedisplayed to the buyer (step 510) to allow the buyer to either create anew industry profile or edit an existing industry profile (step 515).

[0103] If the buyer user selects to edit an existing industry profile(step 520), the buyer user is provided an input user interface thatcontains the existing (previously entered and stored) industry profileinformation as default data (step 525). However, if the buyer userselects to create a new industry profile, the buyer user is provided aninput user interface that contains industry-specific buyer fields toselect from and general profile information entered in accordance withFIG. 9 above as default data (step 530). In some embodiments, the buyeruser may be able to modify the general profile information as it relatesto a specific industry. In other embodiments, the buyer user may beprevented from modifying some or all of the general profile informationfor one or more industries. For example, the buyer user may be preventedfrom modifying geographical information, insurance information, generalbusiness qualification information and other miscellaneous information,depending upon the buyer's business rules/requirements.

[0104] Thereafter, the buyer user is prompted to either edit or enterfor the first time the industry profile information into the computersystem (step 535), as described above. For example, the buyer user canbe prompted to enter industry profile information in the hierarchicaland relational manner described above by pushing web pages populatedwith buyer fields and buyer selection data to the buyer user.Alternatively, if the buyer is updating existing industry profileinformation, the buyer can be prompted to indicate the type ofinformation the buyer would like to update, and in response, thecomputer system can push web pages to the buyer user having buyerselection data associated with only the industry profile informationthat the buyer would like to update.

[0105] Once the buyer user has completed entering the industry profileinformation (step 540), the computer system stores the received industryprofile information in fields within a buyer record associated with thebuyer (step 545). It should be understood that there may be certainindustry-specific buyer fields that the computer system may require allbuyers to fill out, such as insurance information for particularservices. In addition, if the entered industry profile information isupdated industry profile information intended by the buyer to replacepreviously entered industry profile information, the “current status”field of any previously stored industry profile information in the buyerrecord is set to “outdated” to indicate that there is new industryprofile information that replaces the previously entered industryprofile information. In other embodiments, the new industry profileinformation can simply replace the previously entered industry profileinformation, thereby effectively deleting the previously enteredindustry profile information from the database.

[0106] If the entered industry profile information is sufficient to meetall of the buyer's requirements (step 550), the process ends (step 555).However, if the buyer user requires additional industry-specificqualifications that the computer system does not provide, the buyer usercan further submit a request for a new industry-specific qualifier(e.g., a request for a new buyer fields and/or buyer selection datawithin a buyer field) to the computer system, which is reviewed by anoperator of the computer system (step 560), in a similar manner asdescribed above in connection with FIG. 9. If the new industry-specificqualifier information is not approved (step 565), the buyer user isnotified via e-mail or via a dashboard accessible to the buyer user viathe buyer browser that the new industry-specific qualifier informationdoes not meet the computer system standards and will not be added (step570). However, if the new industry-specific qualifier information isapproved, the buyer user is notified via e-mail or via the dashboardthat the new industry-specific qualifier information has been approvedby the computer system (step 575).

[0107] Once the new industry-specific qualifier information has beenapproved, the computer system updates the database to include new buyerfields and/or buyer selection data within the buyer fields with the newindustry-specific qualifier information (step 580). Thereafter, thebuyer user can access the computer system to enter updated industryprofile information using the newly added buyer fields and/or buyerselection data (step 585). The updated industry profile information isfurther stored in the buyer record associated with the buyer user (step590). It should also be understood that, although not shown in FIG. 11,the industry profile information entered by the buyer user may requireapproval by the network operator to ensure that all buyers aresubmitting correct information.

[0108] In addition, the computer system can further update the databaseto include new vendor fields and/or vendor selection data within thevendor fields with the new industry-specific qualifier information andnotify all applicable vendors of the newly added vendor field and/orvendor selection data (step 595). For example, the computer system cannotify all vendors that were previously qualified for the buyer, allvendors within the specific industry or all vendors having a vendorrecord stored within the database. Thereafter, a vendor user can accessthe computer system to enter updated vendor qualification informationusing the newly added vendor fields and/or vendor selection data (step598). The updated vendor qualification information is further stored inthe vendor record associated with the vendor user (step 590).

[0109]FIGS. 12A and 12B are screen shots of exemplary web pages 125illustrating a sample user interface for configuring industry profileinformation. FIG. 12A shows an example of various industry-specificbuyer fields 240 that can be displayed to a buyer user. For example, thebuyer fields 240 can include industry-defining fields, such as an SICDivision field, an SIC Major Group field, an SIC Industry Group fieldand an SIC Industry field. The buyer user can select the particular SICDivision, Major Group, Industry Group and Industry by clicking on linksto SIC Division selection data, SIC Major Group selection data, SICIndustry Group selection data and SIC Industry selection data. Inaddition, the buyer fields 240 can further include geographical fields,insurance fields, certification fields, miscellaneous fields and aprofile name field (to differentiate the various industries that thebuyer has qualifications for). Furthermore, the buyer user can beprovided a link to enter new general qualifier(s) into the computersystem, as discussed above in connection with FIG. 11

[0110] As discussed above, some of the buyer fields 240 displayed arealso general buyer fields that the buyer may have previously filled outwith general profile information. If general profile information hasbeen entered and stored for any of the buyer fields displayed, thatgeneral profile information is listed as default information. The buyeruser may or may not be able to modify the general profile information,depending upon the settings of the buyer. For example, as seen in FIG.12A, the geographical preferences and insurance requirements includeseveral buyer fields that have previously been filled out during thegeneral profile information entering process. One or more of thesefields may not be modifiable by the buyer user for the specificindustry.

[0111]FIG. 12B shows an example of industry profile information 255entered by a buyer user using the user interface shown in FIG. 12A. Theindustry profile information 255 includes the general profileinformation not modified by the buyer user (e.g., geographicpreferences, business requirements and insurance requirements) and thenewly entered industry-specific information entered by the buyer user(e.g., certification requirements and miscellaneous qualifiers). Theindustry profile information 255 can be displayed to the buyer user asthe buyer user is entering the general profile information, and can alsobe accessed by the buyer user at a later time on a dashboard accessibleto a buyer user upon authentication and log-on to view and/or edit thegeneral profile information.

[0112] Vendors are qualified for buyers based upon the general profileinformation and the industry profile information. Each industry profileis qualified separately (for both the vendor and the buyer), andtherefore, each industry profile has a separate vendor list of qualifiedvendors associated therewith. Therefore, when viewing the industryprofile information 255 for a specific industry profile after theindustry profile information 255 has been entered and stored, the buyeruser may be provided the option of viewing the qualified vendor list forthis specific industry profile. In addition, the buyer user may also beprovided the option of viewing standard industry qualificationsretrieved from an industry record for the specific industry profile as abenchmarking tool.

[0113] Examples of the type of industry-related vendor criteriainformation 265 stored in an industry record 260 are illustratedhereinbelow in Tables 16-19. The industry-related vendor criteriainformation 265 can be stored in the same hierarchical manner as thebuyer-defined vendor criteria information 255, mirroring the industryfields 270 stored in the database 150. TABLE 16 tblIndustryMaster VendorCriteria Column Name Data Type Length Information Industy_Profile_Namenvarchar 100 Furniture in NY Industry_ID int 4 20 SIC_Code_ID int 4 5021Country_ID int 4 1 Recom_Year_Corp_Low int 4 10 Recom_Year_Corp_High int4 50 Recom_FTE_Count_Low numeric 9 500 Recom_FTE_Count_High numeric 92,000 Req_Verified_Tax_Filing char 1 Y Req_Audited_Statement char 1 YReq_EDI_Capability char 1 N Req_EFT_Capability char 1 N Req_D&B_Listedchar 1 Y Req_JDPower_Listed char 1 Y Recom_Sales_Low money 10 $500,000Recom_Sales_High money 10 $10,000,000 Recom_Profit_Low money 10 $200,000Recom_Profit_High money 10 $7,500,000 Recom_NetWorth_High money 10$1,000,000 Recom_NetWorth_Low money 10 $5,000,000 Create_Date datetime 8dd/mm/yyyy Edit_Date datetime 8 dd/mm/yyyy Expiration_Date datetime 8dd/mm/yyyy MSP_User_ID int 4 10 Source_ID int 4 2 Source_Name nvarchar100 Wall Street Journal Current_Status_ID int 4 1

[0114] TABLE 17 tblIndustryInsurance Column Name Data Type LengthIndustry_ID int 4 SIC_Code_ID int 4 Country_ID int 4 Region_ID int 4City_ID int 4 Insurance_Type_ID int 4 Insurance_Coverage_Type int 4Coverage_Amount_High money 10 Coverage_Amount_Low money 10Coverage_Amount_Average money 10 Coverage_Amount_Median money 10Coverage_Amount_StandardDeviation money 10 Total_Record_Number int 10Total_VendorRecord_Number int 10 Total_BuyerRecord_Number int 10StandardDeviation_Vendor_Number int 10 StandardDeviation_Buyer_Numberint 10 Coverage_Recommended_ID int 4 Coverage_Amount_Recommended_Highmoney 10 Coverage_Amount_Recommended_Low money 10

[0115] TABLE 18 tblIndustryCertification Column Name Data Type LengthIndustry_ID int 4 SIC_Code_ID int 4 Country_ID int 4 Region_ID int 4City_ID int 4 Certification_Type_ID int 4 Certification_Recommended_IDint 4 Total_Record_Number int 10 Total_Certified_Record_Number int 10Total_Certified_Record_Percentage percentage 10 Vendor_Record_Number int10 Vendor_Certified_Record_Number int 10Vendor_Certified_Record_Percentage percentage 10 Buyer_Record_Number int10 Buyer_Certified_Record_Number int 10Buyer_Certified_Record_Percentage percentage 10

[0116] TABLE 19 tblIndustryMiscQualifiers Column Name Data Type LengthIndustry_ID int 4 SIC_Code_ID int 4 Country_ID int 4 Region_ID int 4City_ID int 4 Recom_UnionShop char 1 Req_Service_Warranty char 1Req_Goods_Warranty char 1 Previous_Business_Relationship char 1Net_Worth money 8 Total_Record_Number int 10 Total_Buyer_Record_Numberint 10 Total_Vendor_Record_Number int 10

[0117] Table 16 above shows an “Industry Master” table that contains anumber of industry fields 270 and associated data entries 275 thatprovide general industry information, such as the industry profile name,the industry ID within the computer system, the SIC Industry Codeassociated with the industry profile name and various recommended andrequired general industry information, as entered into the industryrecord 260 from an industry source user or as collected from buyerrecords and/or vendor records stored in the database 150. The source ofthe industry-related vendor criteria information 265 can also be storedin the “Industry Master” table to indicate all of the sources of theinformation. For example, an expert in the industry can provide some orall of the information, while statistical data collected from analyzingvendor records and/or buyer records can provide other information.

[0118] As shown in Tables 17-19 above, the industry record 260 canfurther include one or more tables under the “Industry Master” tablethat include data (not shown) indicating additional industry-relatedvendor criteria information 265. For example, Table 17 illustratesinsurance information, Table 18 illustrates certification informationand Table 19 illustrates miscellaneous industry-related vendor criteriainformation 265. For example, the industry insurance requirements caninclude an indication of whether or not a particular type of insuranceis recommended or required, an indication of the minimum coverageamounts of insurance for each insurance type that are typically requiredin the industry, ranges of insurance typically required in the industry,average coverage amounts typically required in the industry, thestandard deviations from the average coverage amounts and any other datarelated to insurance requirements. The industry insurance requirementscan be entered by an industry source user and/or collected from vendorrecords and/or buyer records. If the latter, the industry insurancetable can further indicate the total number of vendor and/or buyerrecords used in the calculation and the number of vendor and/or buyerrecords within the standard deviation.

[0119]FIG. 13 is a flowchart illustrating exemplary steps for enteringindustry-related vendor criteria information, in accordance withembodiments of the present invention. Initially, an administrative useraccesses the computer system and logs-in using, for example, a user nameand password, to authenticate the administrative user to the computersystem (step 600). Thereafter, the administrative user is provided asummary page listing all existing industry records accessible to theadministrative user (step 605) to allow the administrative user toeither create a new industry record or edit an existing industry record(step 610).

[0120] If the administrative user selects to edit an existing industryrecord (step 615), the administrative user is provided an input userinterface that contains the existing (previously entered and stored)industry information as default data (step 620). However, if theadministrative user selects to create a new industry record, theadministrative user is provided an input user interface to enable theadministrative user to enter the industry-related vendor criteriainformation into a new industry record (step 625). For example, theadministrative user can be prompted to enter the industry-related vendorcriteria information in the hierarchical and relational manner describedabove by pushing web pages populated with industry fields and industryselection data to the administrative user (step 630). Alternatively, ifthe administrative user is updating an existing industry record, theadministrative user can be prompted to indicate the type of informationthe user would like to update, and in response, the computer system canpush web pages to the user having industry selection data associatedwith only the information that the user would like to update (step 630).

[0121] Once the industry user has completed entering theindustry-related vendor criteria information (step 635), the computersystem stores the received industry-related vendor criteria informationin fields within an industry record (step 640). It should be understoodthat if the entered industry-related vendor criteria information isupdated industry-related vendor criteria information intended by theuser to replace previously entered industry-related vendor criteriainformation, the “current status” field of any previously storedindustry-related vendor criteria information in the industry record isset to “outdated” to indicate that there is new industry-related vendorcriteria information that replaces the previously enteredindustry-related vendor criteria information. In other embodiments, thenew industry-related vendor criteria information can simply replace thepreviously entered industry-related vendor criteria information, therebyeffectively deleting the previously entered industry-related vendorcriteria information from the database. It should further be understoodthat if the user requires additional vendor qualifications that thecomputer system does not provide, the administrative user can create anew industry field and/or industry selection data (with or withoutapproval from another administrator) and enter information using thenewly added industry fields and/or industry selection data.

[0122]FIG. 14 is a flowchart illustrating exemplary steps forcalculating statistical data and storing the statistical data asindustry-related vendor criteria information into an industry record, inaccordance with embodiments of the present invention. To create anindustry record, either the computer system or an administrative userinitializes an industry record creation process (step 650). For example,the computer system can be programmed to automatically create industryrecords at pre-defined intervals. Alternatively, an administrative usercan access the computer system and request initialization of theindustry record creation process.

[0123] Upon initialization, the search criteria are for determiningmatching records are selected. For example, the particular industryassociated with the industry record (step 655), the record source, suchas buyer records, vendor records or both (step 660), and thegeographical area for the industry record (steps 665 and 670) can beselected. Once all of the search criteria have been selected (eithermanually by an administrative user or pre-configured by the computersystem), the computer system runs a batch mode matching process on theselected resource records (i.e., vendor, buyer or both) to determinematching records having the selected industry and the selectedgeographical area (if any) therein. Using all of the matching records,the computer system calculates statistical data related to the industry(step 680) and stores the statistical data in the industry record (step685). The statistical data can be run on all fields within the vendorand/or buyer records that contain general and/or industry-specific datatherein, or only on specified fields (pre-configured by the computersystem or entered by the administrative user prior to calculating thestatistical data). In addition, the statistical data that is calculatedfor each specified field can be pre-configured by the computer system(e.g., high-low range, average, median and standard deviation) or set bythe administrative user prior to calculating the statistical data.

[0124]FIG. 15A is a data view illustrating the types of industry-relatedvendor criteria information 265 stored in an industry record. Theindustry-related vendor criteria information 265 can be static (e.g.,entered by an administrative user) or dynamic (e.g., including updatedcalculated statistical data). The industry-related vendor criteriainformation 265 can further identify the industry (e.g., SIC Division,SIC Major Group, SIC Industry Group and SIC Industry) and thegeographical area associated with the information 265. As shown above inTables 16-19, the industry-related vendor criteria information 265 canfurther include general business qualification data, business insurancedata, business certification data and other miscellaneous qualifierdata. In addition, the industry-related vendor criteria information 265can include multiple records associated with past data, present data andfuture data (e.g. predicted data).

[0125]FIG. 15B is a screen shot of an exemplary web page illustrating anexample of industry-related vendor criteria information 265 entered byan administrative user and stored within an industry record. Theindustry-related vendor criteria information 265 can be used to qualifyvendors for industries or displayed to a buyer user or vendor user, asdescribed above, to use as a benchmarking tool when entering industryprofile information or to compare a particular vendor with the industryrecommendations.

[0126]FIG. 16 is a data flow diagram illustrating a vendor qualificationtool 130 for comparing vendor qualification information 235 with vendorcriteria information 255 or 265 to qualify vendors to do business withbuyers and/or to qualify vendors to do business in particularindustries, in accordance with embodiments of the present invention. Thequalification tool 130 can include any hardware, software and/orfirmware required to perform the functions of the qualification tool,and can be implemented within the web server 120 or an additional server(not shown). Each time a vendor updates a vendor record 230 or creates anew vendor record 230, the qualification tool 130 compares the vendorqualification information 235 entered and stored in the vendor record230 to vendor criteria information 255 or 265 entered and stored inbuyer records 250 and/or industry records 260, respectively.

[0127] If a vendor qualifies to do business with a particular buyer, thequalification tool 130 adds the vendor to a buyer list 258 containingall of the vendors that are qualified to do business with the buyer andadds the buyer to a vendor list 238 containing all of the buyers thatthe vendor is qualified to do business with. If the vendor list 238 ismaintained at the computer system 100, and not provided to the vendor,the vendor list 238 may only contain the buyer identities the computersystem 100 assigned the buyers (although additional buyer informationcould be stored). However, if the vendor list 238 is to be downloaded toa vendor database (not shown), the vendor list 238 could include anybuyer information that the vendor chooses to include in the list. Forexample, the vendor list 238 can include all of the buyer-defined vendorcriteria information 255 (including basic buyer identificationinformation) stored in the buyer record 250 or just a portion of thebuyer-defined vendor criteria information 255. However, there may besome buyer-defined vendor criteria information 255 that the buyer doesnot want the vendor to have access to. In this case, the buyer can limitaccess to certain buyer-defined vendor criteria information 255 byrestricting access to the information 255 when the buyer enters theinformation 255. The vendor list 238 can further be subdivided ororganized in any manner the vendor and/or computer system 100 chooses.For example, the vendor may provide multiple goods and/or services, andtherefore, the vendor list 238 can include multiple lists, each beingassociated with a particular good or service, or the vendor list 238 canbe subdivided into the particular goods or services the vendor provides.As another example, the vendor may provide goods and/or services inmultiple geographical areas, and therefore, the vendor list 238 caninclude multiple lists, each being associated with a particulargeographical area.

[0128] In addition, the buyer list 258 containing all of the vendorsqualified to do business with the buyer can include any vendorqualification information 235 desired by the buyer (unless the vendorlimits access to that information 235) and can be subdivided ororganized in any manner desired by the buyer. For example, the buyerlist 258 may include multiple lists, each containing vendors qualifiedto do business with the buyer for a particular good or service. Theselists can be further subdivided into vendors qualified to provide aparticular good or service in a particular geographical area. The vendorqualification information 235 included in the buyer list 258 should besufficient for the buyer to contact the vendor (e.g., mailing address,e-mail address, telephone number, contact name at the vendor, etc.) andassess whether a particular vendor should be contacted for a particulargood or service request (e.g., RFQ/RFP). The buyer can either access thebuyer list 258 at the computer system 100 to contact one or more vendorsor the buyer list 258 can be downloaded to a buyer database 400 forindependent use of the buyer list 258 at the buyer site for selection ofvendors to send RFQ/RFP's to. Updates to the buyer list 258 can bedownloaded to the buyer database 400 upon receipt or periodically. Forexample, the computer system database 150 can download the entire buyerlist 258 to the buyer database 400 each time a vendor is added orremoved from the list 258, download the entire buyer list 258 to thebuyer database 400 periodically or download only the changes to thebuyer list 258 to the buyer database 400 as they occur or periodically.

[0129] If a vendor qualifies to do business in a particular industry,the qualification tool 130 adds the vendor to an industry list 268containing all of the vendors that are qualified to do business in thatindustry and adds the industry to the vendor list 238 containing all ofthe industries that the vendor is qualified to do business in. Thequalified industries can be included within the same list 238 that thequalified buyers are in, or can be separated out into a separate list238. Each industry record 260 has a different industry list associatedwith it, and each industry list 268 can be subdivided or organized inany manner desired by the computer system operator. The industry list268 can be accessed by buyers (or vendors or administrators) todetermine the vendors that are pre-qualified for a particular industryand to view the “best in class” of the vendors for that industry.

[0130] In addition, each time a buyer updates a buyer record 250 orcreates a new buyer record 250, the qualification tool 130 compares thebuyer-defined vendor criteria information 255 entered and stored in thebuyer record 250 to vendor qualification information 235 entered andstored in vendor records 230. If the buyer is simply updating a buyerrecord 250, the buyer can request that the computer system 100 onlyre-qualify vendors currently on the buyer list 258 with only the newvendor criteria information 255. Alternatively, the computer system 100can compare all of the buyer-defined vendor criteria information 255,including the new vendor criteria information 255, with all vendorrecords 230, especially if the new vendor criteria information 255significantly changes the buyer-defined vendor criteria information 255.The qualification tool 130 can further be used to solicit new vendorqualification information 235 from vendors if the buyer adds a newvendor criteria (buyer field) not previously supported by the system.For example, after an associated vendor field is created by the computersystem 100, the qualification tool 130 can send an e-mail to all vendorsin the buyer list 258 or to certain vendors in the buyer list 258specified by the buyer to provide new vendor qualification information235 to remain qualified for the buyer.

[0131] The qualification tool 130 further interfaces with the web server120 to provide e-mail notification messages 25 a and 25 b (or dashboarddisplays) to the vendor browser 20 a, indicating whether the vendor isqualified or not. For example, the qualification tool 130 can requestthe web server 120 to send an e-mail notification message 25 a to thevendor browser 20 a each time the vendor is qualified for a particularbuyer or industry. Alternatively, the qualification tool 130 can requestthe web server 120 to send an e-mail notification message 25 a to thevendor browser 20 a periodically with a list of buyers and/or industriesthat the vendor is qualified for. The qualification tool 130 can sendthe entire list of buyers and/or industries stored within the vendorlist 238, or only newly added buyers and/or industries.

[0132] In most cases, it would not be economical to send the vendor ane-mail notification message including every buyer and/or industry thevendor is not qualified for. Therefore, the qualification tool 130 cansend the vendor an e-mail notification message 25 b including only thoseunqualified buyers and/or industries that the vendor was attempting tobe qualified for, based on the information entered by the vendor intothe vendor qualification information 235. For example, the vendor couldspecify particular buyers that the vendor would like to do businesswith, and request notification of whether or not the vendor wasqualified for those particular buyers. As another example, if the vendorwas previously qualified for a particular buyer or industry, and due tonew qualifications associated with the buyer or industry or expiredvendor qualification information 235 stored in the vendor record 230,the vendor is no longer qualified for the buyer or industry, thequalification tool 130 can send an e-mail notification message 25 b tothe vendor browser 20 a indicating that the vendor is no longerqualified for that buyer or industry.

[0133] An example of the information the qualification tool uses tocompare vendor qualification information 235 and vendor criteriainformation 255/265 to pre-qualify a vendor per industry or per buyer isillustrated in FIG. 17. The qualification tool retrieves pertinentvendor qualification information 235 from vendor fields 220 from thevendor record 230 and vendor criteria information 255/265 from buyerfields 240 within the buyer record 250 or industry fields 263 from theindustry record 260 to perform the comparison. For example, thequalification tool can retrieve the vendor ID, vendor company name andother identifying data from the vendor qualification information 235,buyer identifying data (not shown) from the buyer-defined vendorcriteria information 255 (if the qualification tool is qualifying avendor for a buyer) and industry identifying data (not shown) from theindustry-related vendor criteria information 265 (if the qualificationtool is qualifying a vendor for an industry). The qualification toolfurther retrieves all of the vendor criteria information 255 or 265 fromthe buyer record 250 or industry record 260, respectively, and uses thevendor criteria information 255 or 265 to determine the associatedvendor qualification information 235 to retrieve from the vendor record230.

[0134] In the example of FIG. 17, the fields (buyer fields 240 orindustry fields 263) containing vendor criteria information 255 or 265included the business entity type of the vendor, the net worth of thevendor, the currency type of the vendor, the full time employee count ofthe vendor, along with other certification and insurance fields. Inaddition, the fields 240 or 263 containing vendor criteria information255 or 265, respectively, also included the data renewal date of thevendor qualification information 235 stored in the vendor records 230.The data renewal date allows the buyer or computer system (for industryrecords) to effectively put an expiration time on the vendorqualification information 235 to eliminate vendors that have not updatedtheir records 230 within a certain period of time. The qualificationtool compares the data within each particular field to ascertain whetherthe vendor complies with the buyer and/or industry requirements. In FIG.17, the qualification tool has entered “Yes” in a compliance record 500for each field, and therefore, the vendor does comply with each buyer orindustry requirements. Based on the compliance record 500, thequalification tool would qualify the vendor for the particular buyer orindustry and update the associated lists (vendor, buyer and/or industry)accordingly. For exemplary purposes, the specific geographic, SICindustry and industry certification qualifiers were gleaned from thereporting output view in FIG. 17.

[0135]FIG. 18 is a flowchart illustrating exemplary steps for qualifyingvendors on a per industry or per client basis, in accordance withembodiments of the present invention. When the computer system receivesboth vendor criteria information (step 700) and vendor qualificationinformation (step 710), the computer system compares the vendor criteriainformation to the vendor qualification information (step 720). If thevendor qualification information does not match the vendor criteriainformation (step 730), the computer system can optionally send ane-mail notification message to the vendor (step 740), as discussed abovein connection with FIG. 16. However, if the vendor qualificationinformation does match the vendor criteria information (step 730), thecomputer system sends an e-mail notification message to the vendor (step750). If the vendor criteria information is buyer-defined vendorcriteria information (step 760), the computer system adds the vendor tothe qualified buyer list (step 770) and sends the updated qualifiedbuyer list to the buyer (step 780). If the vendor criteria informationis industry-related vendor criteria information (step 760), the computersystem adds the vendor to the qualified industry list (step 790). Thebuyer and/or industry can also be added to the vendor list, as describedabove.

[0136]FIG. 19 is a data flow diagram illustrating a statistical tool 160for calculating and providing industry-related statistical dataassociated with one or more vendor records and/or buyer records, inaccordance with embodiments of the present invention. The statisticaltool 160 can include any hardware, software and/or firmware required toperform the functions of the statistical tool 160, and can beimplemented within the web server 120 or an additional server (notshown). When a user accesses the computer system 100 using a userbrowser 20, the computer system 100 solicits selection criteria 110 fromthe user. The user can be an administrative user attempting to create anindustry record, as described above in connection with FIG. 14, a buyeruser requesting statistical data or standard industry qualifications, asdescribed above in connection with FIG. 12B and shown in FIG. 15B, or avendor user requesting statistical data or standard industryqualifications. The statistical data can be used to qualify vendors forindustries, to compare a vendor to industry standards or to use as abenchmarking tool by a buyer or a vendor when entering data into a buyerrecord 250 or vendor record 230, respectively.

[0137] In one embodiment, the statistical criteria 110 includesinformation 235 or 255 stored in a vendor or buyer record 230 or 250,respectively, within the database 150. In another embodiment, thestatistical criteria 110 can be entered in the same manner as the vendorcriteria information 265 stored in the industry records 260 in thedatabase 150. For example, the statistical tool 160 can interface withthe database 150 to retrieve criteria fields 170 containing criteriaselection data 175 and populate one or more web pages 125 a within theweb server 120 with the criteria selection data 175 to be passed to theuser browser 20, so that the user can enter the specific statisticalcriteria 110 that the user would like statistical information on. Itshould be understood that the criteria selection data 175 can includeeither selection data that can be individually selected (e.g.,corresponding to the industry selection data within industry fieldsdiscussed above in connection with FIG. 2) and/or one or morepre-configured industry profiles that correspond to pre-configuredindustry-related vendor criteria information 265 (e.g., industry,geographical area and record source) stored within industry records 260.In addition, if the statistical criteria 110 is selected from one ormore pre-configured industry profiles, the statistical criteria 110provided to the computer system 100 can include only one or morecomponents of a particular pre-configured industry profile.

[0138] In some embodiments, the criteria selection data 175 can furtherinclude statistical selections that can be populated in web pages 125 aand provided to the user browser 20 from the web server 120 for the userto select statistical criteria 115 from. In other embodiments, thestatistical criteria 115 can be pre-configured by the computer system100 based upon existing industry records. The statistical selections 175provided to the user can be generic regardless of the selection criteria110 entered by the user, or the statistical selections 175 can be basedupon the selection criteria 110 entered by the user. For example, if theuser selects a particular industry having unique qualifications, theuser can be prompted to enter whether the user would like to havestatistical data 265 a related to those unique qualifications. Thestatistical criteria 115 entered by the user can also indicate the typesof statistical data 265 a required. For example, the statisticalcriteria 115 can request the average insurance amount across allgeographical areas for a specific industry, the average insurance amountfor specific geographic areas for the specific industry, the standarddeviation, the insurance amount range and any other statistical data 265a that the user desires.

[0139] The selection criteria 110 and any statistical criteria 115 arepassed from the web server 120 to the statistical tool 160 to determinethe statistical data 265 a to be presented to the user. If the user hasselected a pre-configured industry profile associated with a particularindustry record (or one or more components of a pre-configured industryprofile), the statistical tool 160 can retrieve the selectedindustry-related vendor criteria information 265 from the selectedindustry record 260 and interface with the web server 120 to provide aweb page 125 b containing the requested statistical data 265 a to theuser browser 20. If the user has entered individual selection criteria110 or if the user is using buyer-defined vendor criteria information255 or vendor qualification data 235 as the selection criteria 110, thestatistical tool 160 can either compare the entered/stored selectioncriteria 110 with industry records 260 stored within the database 150 orcompare the entered selection criteria 110 to the vendor records 230and/or buyer records 250 stored within the database 150. The statisticaltool 160 compares the entered selection criteria 110 to industry records260 in order to determine the closest matching industry record to theentered selection criteria 110 in order to present pre-calculatedstatistical data 265 a to the user.

[0140] However, if the user desires specific statistical data 265 a notavailable from existing industry records, the user can request that thestatistical tool 160 run a new industry record creation process tocreate an industry record 260 for the user (that may or may not bestored in the database 150 and may or may not be available to multiplebuyers, vendors and administrators). To determine the matching recordsassociated with the entered selection criteria 110, the statistical tool160 retrieves vendor qualification information 235 from the vendorrecords 230 and/or buyer-defined vendor criteria information from thebuyer records 250 to determine if the vendor criteria 110 match any ofthe vendor and/or buyer records 250 and/or 260, respectively. The usercan designate that all entered selection criteria 110 must match exactlybefore a particular record 230 or 250 is used in the statisticalanalysis, or the user can specify a minimal match percentage (e.g., 75%of the selection criteria 110 must match a record 230 or 250 for thatrecord 230 or 250 to be used in the statistical analysis).Alternatively, the computer system 100 can determine a minimal matchpercentage or other matching criteria before using a record 230 or 250in the statistical analysis. The computer system 100 can further informthe user of the matching criteria used to enable the user to narrow orbroaden the matching criteria accordingly as part of the selectioncriteria 110.

[0141] If the vendor qualification information 235 and/or buyer-definedvendor criteria information 255 within a particular vendor record 230and/or buyer record 250, respectively, matches the entered selectioncriteria 110 based upon the matching criteria, the statistical tool 160uses the information 235 and/or 255 within the record 230 and/or 250,respectively, to calculate statistical data 265 a related to theselection criteria 110. The statistical tool 160 interfaces with the webserver 120 to provide the web page 125 b containing the requestedstatistical data 265 a to the user browser 20. The statistical tool 160can further interface with the database 150 to store the statisticaldata 265 a within a new industry record 260 as industry-related vendorcriteria information, unless the user designates otherwise.

[0142] Based upon the statistical data 265 a received, the statisticaltool 160 can further provide the user the option of modifying theselection criteria 110 and/or the statistical criteria 115 to narrow orbroaden the number of records 230 and/or 250 included within thestatistical data 265 a or modify the type of statistical data 265 aprovided on the web page 125 b displayed to the user via the userbrowser 20. In addition, if the selection criteria 110 entered by theuser are too broad to perform a manageable search, the statistical tool160 can request the user to modify the selection criteria 110. Forexample, the statistical tool 160 can suggest that the user narrow thegeographical area, industry (e.g., from a Major Group to an IndustryGroup or Industry) or record source. Furthermore, if the selectioncriteria 110 are too narrow, such that few or no matches occur, thestatistical tool 160 can request the user to modify the selectioncriteria 110. For example, the statistical tool 160 can suggest that theuser broaden the geographical area, industry or record source.

[0143] Examples of statistical industry data 265 a provided to a userare illustrated in FIGS. 20A and 20B. FIG. 20A is a screen shot of anexemplary web page 125 b listing various statistical data 265 a basedupon vendor records, while FIG. 20B is a screen shot of an exemplary webpage 125 b listing various statistical data 265 a based upon buyerrecords. For example, the user can be provided a total number of recordsthat matched the vendor criteria entered by the user, along with variousstatistical data 265 a associated with the vendor qualificationinformation or buyer-defined vendor criteria information stored in thematching records. In addition, the user can be provided the option toview buyer preferences (as shown in FIG. 20B), vendor information (asshown in FIG. 20A) or qualification recommendations (as shown in FIG.15B). Furthermore, the user can be provided the option to edit theselection criteria and/or statistical criteria (shown as an “EditCriteria” button), save the selection criteria and/or statisticalcriteria (shown as a “Save Criteria” button) to save the criteriaentered for future analysis purposes (e.g., the user may want to runanother statistical analysis of vendor records and/or buyer records orboth for the same or a different industry, and may want to reduce theamount of input that is required) and/or save the data displayed (shownas a “Save Data” button) as an industry record for later viewing by theuser.

[0144]FIG. 21 is a flow chart illustrating exemplary steps forcalculating and providing statistical data related to one or more vendorrecords and/or buyer records, in accordance with embodiments of thepresent invention. Initially, a user accesses the computer system andlogs-in using, for example, a user name and password, to authenticatethe user to the computer system (step 800). The user name and/orpassword can be unique to each user, or one user name and password canbe associated with all users at a particular source (e.g., businessentity).

[0145] Once the user has been authenticated, if the user has created arecord (vendor or buyer), the user can use the previously created recordas the selection criteria (step 805). The user can further choose toeither determine the closest matching industry record to the previouslycreated user record (steps 810 and 815) or to use the previously createduser record as the search criteria to create a new industry record(steps 810 and 820). If the user does not want to use a previouslycreated user record as the selection criteria, the user can select apre-configured industry profile associated with an existing industryrecord to view statistical data associated with one or more industryfields stored within that industry record (step 825), or the user canenter the selection criteria individually to create a new industryrecord (step 830). Thereafter, the user can enter the statisticalcriteria (step 835) into the computer system, as described above.

[0146] Once the selection criteria and statistical criteria have beenentered, the computer system determines whether the selection criteriais associated with an existing industry record (e.g., the user hasrequested the computer system to determine the closest matching industryrecord to a previously created user record or the user has selected apre-configured industry profile associated with an existing industryrecord) (step 840). If so, the computer system retrieves the requestedstatistical data based upon the statistical criteria from the industryrecord and displays the statistical data to the user (step 845).

[0147] If not, the computer system compares the selection criteria tothe information stored in vendor records and/or buyer records todetermine matching vendor records and/or buyer records (step 850), inaccordance with the matching criteria, as discussed above. Thereafter,the information included within the matching record is used to calculatestatistical data in accordance with the statistical criteria entered bythe user (step 855). The calculated statistical data is provided to theuser for viewing, downloading or printing by the user (step 845). Itshould be noted that the user can further be provided the option ofmodifying the selection criteria and/or statistical criteria to broadenor narrow the number of matching records in order to obtain moreaccurate statistical data or different statistical data.

[0148]FIG. 22 is a data flow diagram illustrating a vendor maintenancetool 140 for maintaining vendor qualification, in accordance withembodiments of the present invention. Each vendor record 230 has a datareview field therein that stores a data renewal date 235 a to serve as areminder to the vendor to review and update the vendor qualificationinformation stored in the vendor record 230. In addition, one or moretables or fields within the vendor record 230 may have an expiry fieldthat stores an expiration date 235 b associated with the particulartable or field. For example, if a vendor has entered insuranceinformation into the vendor record 230, and one or more of the insurancepolicies has an expiration date 235 b, an expiry field within the vendorrecord 230 would store the expiration date(s) 235 b of the insurancepolicies.

[0149] The vendor maintenance tool 140 within the computer system 100interfaces with the database 150 to manage the vendor records 230 toensure that all vendor qualification information stored within thevendor records 230 is current by reviewing all data renewal dates anddata expiration dates within the vendor records 230. The maintenancetool 140 includes the hardware, software and/or firmware required toperform the functions of the maintenance tool 140, and can be includedwithin the web server 120 or an additional server (not shown). If a datarenewal date 235 a or data expiration date 235 b indicates that updatedvendor qualification information is needed from a vendor, themaintenance tool 140 interfaces with the web server 120 to send anupdate request message 35 to the vendor browser 20 a. For example, themaintenance tool 140 can be programmed to send out update requestmessages 35 a certain period of time (e.g., one month) in advance of anydata renewal date 235 a or expiration date 235 b. The update requestmessage 35 can be sent as an e-mail message to the vendor browser's 20 ae-mail account or as a posted message on a dashboard that a vendor usercan view via the vendor browser 20 a upon logging-in to the computersystem.

[0150] The maintenance tool can further retrieve new vendor fields 220(based on new buyer fields 240 configured by the buyer or new industryfields 263 configured by the computer system 100) not previouslyavailable to the vendor or not previously required to be filled out bythe vendor. The update request message 35 sent to the vendor browser 20a can inform the vendor that a new vendor field is available or requiredto be filled out. It should be understood that although not shown, anupdate request message can also be sent to the buyer browser, informingthe buyer of a new buyer field 240 (shown in FIG. 2). The update messagecan be sent to all vendors and buyers registered with the computersystem 100 or to only those vendors and buyers who have a need to updatetheir records 230 or 250 based on the new field 220 or 240 (e.g., allvendors and buyers in a particular industry related to the new field 220or 240, all vendors pre-qualified for a particular buyer, etc.).

[0151] The maintenance tool 140 further coordinates the collection ofany updated vendor qualification information 235 c provided by thevendor via the vendor module (and also the collection of any updatedvendor criteria information provided by the buyer via the buyer module).The updated vendor qualification information 235 c can be entered by thevendor via the vendor browser 20 a and web server 120 and/or provided tothe computer system 100 through traditional mailing or faxing, if hardcopies of or documentation supporting the updated vendor qualificationinformation 235 c are required for verification purposes (e.g., a newcopy of an insurance policy). Therefore, in some embodiments, themaintenance tool 140 further enables an operator of the computer system100 to enter updated vendor qualification information 235 c into themaintenance tool 140. The computer system 100 further incorporates thecapability of receiving documents transmitted electronically via fileattachment and/or direct technical interface. Upon receipt of theupdated vendor qualification information 235 c, the maintenance tool 140is further responsible for storing the updated vendor qualificationinformation 235 c in the vendor record 240 and updating the data renewaldate 235 a and/or data expiration date 235 b, as appropriate. If theupdated vendor qualification information 235 c changes or modifies anexisting table or field within the vendor record 240, the maintenancetool can replace any previously stored vendor qualification informationwith the updated vendor qualification information 235 c or store theupdated vendor qualification information 235 c in addition to thepreviously stored vendor qualification information within the vendorrecord 230. If the latter, the current status of the previously storedvendor qualification information would be changed to “outdated.”

[0152] The maintenance tool 140 is further responsible for interfacingwith the qualification tool (shown in FIG. 16) to update vendor lists238, buyer lists 258 and industry lists 268 if updated vendorqualification information 235 c is not entered into the computer system100 prior to the expiration date or data renewal date. In oneembodiment, the maintenance tool 140 removes the vendor from all buyerlists 258 and industry lists 268 and sets the current status of thevendor record 230 to “outdated” if updated vendor qualificationinformation 235 c is not entered prior to the expiration or data renewaldate (or within a reasonable, pre-configured or negotiated time periodafter the expiration or data renewal date). In another embodiment, themaintenance tool 140 removes the vendor from all buyer lists 258 andindustry lists 268 that required the updated vendor qualificationinformation 235 c if updated vendor qualification information 235 c isnot entered prior to the expiration date. For example, if a particularindustry or buyer requires the vendor to have a particular amount ofinsurance coverage, and the insurance policy providing that coveragelapses without the vendor providing a renewal policy, the maintenancetool 140 can remove the vendor from that particular buyer list 258 orindustry list 268. In addition, the maintenance tool 140 can furtherremove that particular industry or buyer from the vendor list 238. Infurther embodiments, the maintenance tool 140 can be programmed to makeno changes to the vendor list 238, buyer lists 258 or industry lists 268if updated vendor qualification information 235 c is not provided priorto the data renewal date. For example, the data renewal date can be usedsimply as a reminder to the vendor to check the vendor records 230 andmake any changes without invoking any consequences on the vendor ifchanges are not made.

[0153] The maintenance tool 140 further interfaces with the web server120 to provide e-mail notification messages 25 a and 25 b to the vendorregarding whether the vendor is qualified or not based upon any updatedvendor qualification information 235 c the vendor enters or does notenter into the computer system 100. For example, if the updated vendorqualification information 235 c re-qualifies the vendor for a particularbuyer or industry, the maintenance tool 140 can provide an e-mailnotification message 25 a to the vendor indicating the vendor isqualified for the buyer or industry. Likewise, if the vendor does notprovide any updated vendor qualification information 235 c or if theupdated vendor qualification information 235 c does not meet the vendorcriteria information stored within a particular buyer record 250 orindustry record 260, the maintenance tool 140 can provide an e-mailnotification message 25 b to the vendor informing the vendor that thevendor is no longer qualified for that particular buyer or industry. Itshould be understood that the maintenance tool 140 interfaces with thequalification tool (shown in FIG. 16) to make the determination as towhether any updated vendor qualification information 235 c entered bythe vendor matches the vendor criteria information for any buyers and/orindustries on the vendor list 238.

[0154]FIG. 23 is a flowchart illustrating exemplary steps formaintaining vendor qualification, in accordance with embodiments of thepresent invention. When the computer system determines that a vendor isin compliance breach due to changed buyer or industry requirements or tothe expiration of a qualification date (such as the data renewal date ordata expiration date), the computer system notifies the vendor viae-mail and/or system dashboard of the pending compliance breach (step900). If the vendor provides updated vendor qualification informationwithin pre-configured time constraints (step 905), the computer systemupdates the vendor record with the updated vendor qualificationinformation (step 910) and, if necessary, verifies the updated vendorqualification information (step 915). If the updated vendorqualification information is verified as accurate (step 915), the vendorqualification information is marked as approved within the vendor record(step 920). However, if the vendor does not provide updated vendorqualification information within pre-configured time constraints (step905) or the updated vendor qualification information is not verified asaccurate (step 915), the vendor is subjected to pre-determined penaltiesdependent upon the type of breach (no longer qualified for a particularbuyer or industry or stale vendor qualification information) and anyrules pertaining to the breach defined by the buyer or industry (step925).

[0155]FIG. 24 is a flowchart illustrating exemplary steps formaintaining current vendor qualification information, in accordance withembodiments of the present invention. When a vendor enters vendorqualification information for the first time into the computer system orwhen a vendor provides updated vendor qualification information to thecomputer system (step 950), the vendor record associated with the vendoris updated with the newly entered or updated vendor qualificationinformation (step 955). If any of the vendor qualification informationentered by the vendor has an expiration date (step 960), the computersystem sets an expiry field associated with the vendor qualificationinformation with the expiration date (step 965). In addition, thecomputer system further sets a data review field with a data renewaldate to request updated vendor qualification information from the vendor(step 970).

[0156] If an expiration date is reached (step 975), the computer systemsends an update request e-mail message to the vendor requesting updatedvendor qualification information related to the expired data (step 980).If the requested updated vendor qualification information is entered bythe vendor into the computer system prior to the expiration date (step985), the vendor record for the vendor is updated (step 955), and a newexpiration date (if any) is set (step 960). However, if the requestedupdated vendor qualification information is not received by the computersystem prior to the expiration date (or within a reasonable,pre-configured or negotiated time after the expiration date) (step 985),the vendor is removed from the appropriate buyer and industry lists, andthe vendor list is updated accordingly (step 990).

[0157] If the data renewal date is reached (step 995), the computersystem sends an update request e-mail message to the vendor requestingupdated vendor qualification information to remind the vendor to checkthe vendor record to ensure the accuracy of the vendor qualificationinformation (step 998). If updated vendor qualification information isentered by the vendor into the computer system prior to the data renewaldate (step 999), the vendor record is updated with the updated vendorqualification information (step 955). However, if no updated vendorqualification information is received by the computer system prior tothe data renewal date (step 999), in one embodiment, the vendorqualification information is considered outdated and the vendor isremoved from any buyer and/or industry lists that the vendor wasqualified for (step 990). In another embodiment, if no updated vendorqualification information is received by the computer system prior tothe data renewal date (step 999), the data renewal date is updated andno changes are made to the vendor record or any of the buyer, industryor vendor lists (step 975).

[0158] As will be recognized by those skilled in the art, the innovativeconcepts described in the present application can be modified and variedover a wide range of applications. Accordingly, the scope of patentedsubject matter should not be limited to any of the specific exemplaryteachings discussed, but is instead defined by the following claims.

We claim:
 1. A computer system for qualifying a vendor for a qualifier,comprising: a web server configured to receive vendor qualificationinformation associated with the vendor via a data network; a databaseconfigured to store said vendor qualification information and vendorcriteria information associated with the qualifier; and a qualificationtool configured to compare said vendor qualification information to saidvendor criteria information to qualify the vendor for the qualifier. 2.The computer system of claim 1, wherein said database is further capableof storing additional vendor qualification information associated withan additional vendor and additional vendor criteria informationassociated with an additional qualifier.
 3. The computer system of claim1, wherein said qualifier is a buyer and said web server is associatedwith the buyer, said vendor criteria information being buyer-definedvendor criteria information established by the buyer.
 4. The computersystem of claim 1, further comprising: a vendor browser associated withthe vendor, said vendor browser having a data connection with said webserver to enable the vendor to enter said vendor qualificationinformation into said database.
 5. The computer system of claim 4,wherein said web server is further capable of selectively providing ane-mail notification message to said vendor browser indicating whetherthe vendor is qualified for the qualifier.
 6. The computer system ofclaim 4, wherein said web server is further capable of pushing one ormore web pages at a time to said vendor browser, said one or more webpages including vendor selection data for use by the vendor in enteringsaid vendor qualification information.
 7. The computer system of claim6, wherein said web server uses said vendor qualification informationentered in response to said one or more web pages to determine one ormore additional web pages to be pushed to said vendor browser.
 8. Thecomputer system of claim 7, wherein said database is further configuredto store vendor fields containing said vendor selection data.
 9. Thecomputer system of claim 8, further comprising: a vendor moduleconfigured to populate said one or more web pages with said vendorselection data from said vendor fields and store said vendorqualification information entered by the vendor within said database.10. The computer system of claim 9, wherein said database is furtherconfigured to store said vendor qualification information entered by thevendor in a vendor record.
 11. The computer system of claim 9, whereinsaid vendor fields are arranged in a hierarchical and relationalstructure and said vendor qualification information stored in saiddatabase is arranged in a hierarchical and relational structuremirroring select ones of said vendor fields.
 12. The computer system ofclaim 11, wherein said vendor fields are in a table-driven format thatis configurable and scalable based upon the vendor and the computersystem.
 13. The computer system of claim 11, wherein said vendorqualification information includes vendor profiling information tocategorize the types of goods and services the vendor provides, saidvendor fields including vendor profiling fields to solicit said vendorprofiling information from the vendor.
 14. The computer system of claim13, wherein said vendor profiling fields are organized into hierarchicaltables, each of said hierarchical tables including vendor selection datahaving one or more vendor profiling selections, said one or more webpages pushed to said vendor browser including said one or more vendorprofiling selections of a first one of said hierarchical tables and saidone or more additional web pages pushed to said vendor browser includingsaid one or more vendor profiling selections of a second one of saidhierarchical tables.
 15. The computer system of claim 14, wherein saidvendor profiling information entered by the vendor in response to saidone or more web pages includes a select one of said vendor profilingselections, said second hierarchical table being selected by said vendormodule based upon said select vendor profiling selection entered by thevendor.
 16. The computer system of claim 1, wherein the qualifier is abuyer, and further comprising: a buyer browser associated with thebuyer, said buyer browser having a data connection with said web serverto enter said vendor criteria information associated with the buyer intosaid database.
 17. The computer system of claim 16, wherein said webserver is further capable of pushing one or more web pages at a time tosaid buyer browser, said one or more web pages including buyer selectiondata for use by the buyer in entering said vendor criteria information.18. The computer system of claim 17, wherein said web server uses saidvendor criteria information entered in response to said one or more webpages to determine one or more additional web pages to be pushed to saidbuyer browser.
 19. The computer system of claim 18, wherein saiddatabase is further configured to store buyer fields containing saidbuyer selection data.
 20. The computer system of claim 19, furthercomprising: a buyer module configured to populate said one or more webpages with said buyer selection data from said buyer fields and storesaid vendor criteria information entered by the buyer within saiddatabase.
 21. The computer system of claim 20, wherein said database isfurther configured to store said vendor criteria information entered bythe buyer in a buyer record.
 22. The computer system of claim 20,wherein said buyer fields are arranged in a hierarchical and relationalstructure and said vendor criteria information stored in said databaseis arranged in a hierarchical and relational structure mirroring selectones of said buyer fields, said vendor qualification information beingfurther arranged in a hierarchical and relational structure to enablecomparison of said vendor qualification information and said vendorcriteria information by said qualification tool.
 23. The computer systemof claim 22, wherein said buyer fields are in a table-driven format thatis configurable and scalable based on the buyer and the computer system.24. The computer system of claim 23, wherein said vendor criteriainformation includes vendor profiling information to categorize thetypes of goods and services the buyer has a need for, said buyer fieldsincluding vendor profiling fields to solicit said vendor profilinginformation from the buyer.
 25. The computer system of claim 1, whereinthe qualifier is an industry and said vendor criteria information isindustry-related vendor criteria information associated with theindustry, said industry-related vendor criteria information indicatingindustry-defined requirements for the vendor to do business in theindustry.
 26. The computer system of claim 25, wherein saidindustry-related vendor criteria information is arranged in ahierarchical and relational structure and said vendor qualificationinformation is arranged in a hierarchical and relational structure toenable comparison of said vendor qualification information and saidindustry-related vendor criteria information by said qualification tool.27. The computer system of claim 25, wherein said database is furtherconfigured to store said industry-related vendor criteria information inan industry record.
 28. The computer system of claim 1, furthercomprising: an input device configured to enable a user of the computersystem to enter verification information associated with said vendorqualification information into said database; and a user interfaceconfigured to provide the user with verification request informationrequesting the user verify said vendor qualification information andenter said verification information into said database.
 29. The computersystem of claim 1, wherein said database is further configured to storea vendor list capable of including one or more qualified qualifiers,said qualification tool populating said vendor list with the qualifierwhen said vendor qualification information matches said vendor criteriainformation associated with the qualifier.
 30. The computer system ofclaim 1, wherein the qualifier is a buyer and said database is furtherconfigured to store a buyer list associated with the buyer capable ofincluding one or more qualified vendors, said qualification toolpopulating said buyer list with the vendor when said vendorqualification information matches said vendor criteria informationassociated with the buyer.
 31. The computer system of claim 30, whereinsaid buyer list further includes at least a portion of said vendorqualification information associated with the vendor.
 32. The computersystem of claim 30, further comprising: a buyer database associated withthe buyer, said buyer list being downloaded to said buyer database fromsaid database storing said vendor qualification information and saidvendor criteria information.
 33. The computer system of claim 1, whereinthe qualifier is an industry and said database is further configured tostore an industry list capable of including one or more qualifiedvendors, said qualification tool populating said industry list with thevendor when said vendor qualification information matches said vendorcriteria information associated with the industry.
 34. The computersystem of claim 1, further comprising: a maintenance tool configured tointerface with said database to monitor said vendor qualificationinformation, request updated vendor qualification information from thevendor and store said updated vendor qualification information in thedatabase to maintain qualification of the vendor for the qualifier. 35.The computer system of claim 34, wherein said vendor qualificationinformation includes a data renewal date, said maintenance tool beingconfigured to request said updated vendor qualification informationprior to or on said data renewal date.
 36. The computer system of claim35, wherein said vendor qualification information further includes adata expiration date associated with a particular data entry within saidvendor qualification information, said maintenance tool being configuredto request said updated vendor qualification information prior to or onsaid data expiration date.
 37. The computer system of claim 36, whereinsaid maintenance tool is further configured to remove the vendor from aqualifier list containing one or more qualified vendors associated withthe qualifier when said updated vendor qualification information is notreceived by the maintenance tool by a pre-configured date associatedwith said data renewal date or said data expiration date.
 38. Thecomputer system of claim 37, wherein said maintenance tool is furtherconfigured to interface with said web server to send an e-mailnotification message to a vendor browser associated with the vendorindicating the vendor is no longer qualified for the qualifier.
 39. Thecomputer system of claim 34, wherein said maintenance tool is furtherconfigured to interface with said web server to send an e-mail updaterequest message to a vendor browser associated with the vendor torequest said updated vendor qualification information from the vendor.40. A method for qualifying a vendor for a qualifier, comprising thesteps of: receiving vendor qualification information associated with thevendor; storing said vendor qualification information within a database;storing vendor criteria information associated with the qualifier withinsaid database; comparing said vendor qualification information with saidvendor criteria information to generate compliance information; andqualifying the vendor for the qualifier based on said complianceinformation.
 41. The method of claim 40, wherein said step of storingfurther comprises: storing additional vendor qualification informationassociated with an additional vendor and additional vendor criteriainformation associated with an additional qualifier within saiddatabase.
 42. The method of claim 40, further comprising the step of:selectively providing a notification message to the vendor indicatingwhether the vendor is qualified for the qualifier.
 43. The method ofclaim 40, wherein said step of receiving further comprises: pushing oneor more web pages at a time from said web server to a vendor browserassociated with the vendor, said one or more web pages including vendorselection data for use by the vendor in entering said vendorqualification information.
 44. The method of claim 43, wherein said stepof pushing said one or more web pages further comprises the step of:using said vendor qualification information entered in response to saidone or more web pages to determine one or more additional web pages tobe pushed to said vendor browser.
 45. The method of claim 44, whereinsaid step of pushing further comprises the steps of: storing vendorfields containing said vendor selection data within said database; andpopulating said one or more web pages with said vendor selection datafrom said vendor fields.
 46. The method of claim 45, wherein said stepof storing said vendor fields further comprises the step of: storingsaid vendor fields within said database in a hierarchical and relationalstructure.
 47. The method of claim 46, wherein said step of storing saidvendor qualification information further comprises the step of: storingsaid vendor qualification information within said database in ahierarchical and relational structure mirroring select ones of saidvendor fields.
 48. The method of claim 46, wherein said vendorqualification information includes vendor profiling information tocategorize the types of goods and services the vendor provides, saidstep of storing said vendor fields further comprising the step of:storing vendor profiling fields within said vendor fields intohierarchical tables, each of said hierarchical tables including vendorselection data having one or more vendor profiling selections, saidvendor profiling selections being used to solicit said vendor profilinginformation from the vendor.
 49. The method of claim 48, wherein saidstep of pushing said one or more web pages further comprises the stepsof: including said one or more vendor profiling selections of a firstone of said hierarchical tables within said one or more web pages pushedto said vendor browser; and including said one or more vendor profilingselections of a second one of said hierarchical tables within said oneor more additional web pages pushed to said vendor browser.
 50. Themethod of claim 49, wherein said step of including said one or morevendor profiling selections of said second one of said hierarchicaltables within said one or more additional web pages pushed to saidvendor browser further comprises the steps of: receiving said vendorprofiling information entered by the vendor in response to said one ormore web pages, said vendor profiling information including a select oneof said vendor profiling selections; and selecting said secondhierarchical table based upon said select vendor profiling selectionentered by the vendor.
 51. The method of claim 40, wherein the qualifieris a buyer and said step of receiving further comprises the step of:pushing one or more web pages at a time from said web server to a buyerbrowser associated with the buyer, said one or more web pages includingbuyer selection data for use by the buyer in entering said vendorcriteria information.
 52. The method of claim 51, wherein said step ofpushing said one or more web pages to said buyer browser furthercomprises the step of: using said vendor criteria information entered inresponse to said one or more web pages to determine one or moreadditional web pages to be pushed to said buyer browser.
 53. The methodof claim 52, wherein said step of pushing further comprises the stepsof: storing buyer fields containing said buyer selection data withinsaid database; and populating said one or more web pages with said buyerselection data from said buyer fields.
 54. The method of claim 53,wherein said step of storing said buyer fields further comprises thestep of: storing said buyer fields within said database in ahierarchical and relational structure.
 55. The method of claim 54,wherein said step of storing said vendor qualification information andsaid vendor criteria information further comprises the steps of: storingsaid vendor criteria information in a hierarchical and relationalstructure mirroring select ones of said buyer fields; and storing saidvendor qualification information in a hierarchical and relationalstructure to enable comparison of said vendor qualification informationand said vendor criteria information during said step of comparing. 56.The method of claim 55, wherein said vendor criteria informationincludes vendor profiling information to categorize the types of goodsand services that the buyer has a need for, said step of storing saidbuyer fields further comprising the step of: storing vendor profilingfields within said buyer fields, said vendor profiling selections beingused to solicit said vendor profiling information from the buyer. 57.The method of claim 40, wherein the qualifier is an industry and saidvendor criteria information is industry-related vendor criteriainformation associated with the industry, said industry-related vendorcriteria information indicating industry-defined requirements for thevendor to do business in the industry, and wherein said step of storingsaid vendor qualification information and said industry-related vendorcriteria information further comprises the steps of: storing saidindustry-related vendor criteria information in a hierarchical andrelational structure; and storing said vendor qualification informationin a hierarchical and relational structure to enable comparison of saidvendor qualification information and said industry-related vendorcriteria information.
 58. The method of claim 40, further comprising thesteps of: verifying said vendor qualification information entered by thevendor; and storing verification information associated with said vendorqualification information in said database.
 59. The method of claim 40,further comprising the steps of: storing a vendor list capable ofincluding one or more qualified qualifiers within said database; andpopulating said vendor list with the qualifier when said vendorqualification information matches said vendor criteria informationassociated with the qualifier.
 60. The method of claim 40, wherein thequalifier is a buyer, and further comprising the steps of: storing abuyer list associated with the buyer capable of including one or morequalified vendors within said database; and populating said buyer listwith the vendor when said vendor qualification information matches saidvendor criteria information associated with the buyer.
 61. The method ofclaim 60, wherein said step of populating further comprises the step of:storing at least a portion of said vendor qualification informationassociated with the vendor within said buyer list.
 62. The method ofclaim 61, further comprising the step of: downloading said buyer listfrom said database to a buyer database associated with the buyer. 63.The method of claim 40, wherein the qualifier is an industry and furthercomprising the steps of: storing an industry list capable of includingone or more qualified vendors within said database; and populating saidindustry list with the vendor when said vendor qualification informationmatches said vendor criteria information associated with the industry.64. The method of claim 40, further comprising the steps of: monitoringsaid vendor qualification information; requesting updated vendorqualification information from the vendor; and storing said updatedvendor qualification information in the database to maintainqualification of the vendor for the qualifier.
 65. The method of claim64, wherein said vendor qualification information includes a datarenewal date, said step of requesting further comprising the step of:requesting said updated vendor qualification information prior to or onsaid data renewal date.
 66. The method of claim 65, wherein said vendorqualification information further includes a data expiration dateassociated with a particular data entry within said vendor qualificationinformation, said step of requesting further comprising the step of:requesting said updated vendor qualification information prior to or onsaid data expiration date.
 67. The method of claim 66, furthercomprising the step of: removing the vendor from a qualifier listcontaining one or more qualified vendors associated with the qualifierwhen said updated vendor qualification information is not received fromthe vendor by a pre-configured date associated with said data renewaldate or said data expiration date.
 68. The method of claim 67, furthercomprising the step of: sending a notification message to a vendorbrowser associated with the vendor indicating the vendor is no longerqualified for the qualifier.
 69. A computer system for maintainingqualification of a vendor for a qualifier, comprising: a web serverconfigured to receive vendor qualification information associated withthe vendor via a data network; a database configured to store saidvendor qualification information and vendor criteria informationassociated with the qualifier; means for qualifying the vendor for thequalifier based on said vendor qualification information to said vendorcriteria information; and means for monitoring said vendor qualificationinformation to request updated vendor qualification information from thevendor to maintain qualification of the vendor for the qualifier.
 70. Acomputer system for creating and maintaining a buyer list of qualifiedvendors that are qualified to do business with a buyer, comprising: aweb server configured to receive vendor qualification informationassociated with the vendor via a data network; a database configured tostore said vendor qualification information and vendor criteriainformation associated with the buyer; means for comparing said vendorqualification information to said vendor criteria information to qualifythe vendor for the buyer; and means for adding the vendor to said buyerlist when said vendor qualification information matches said vendorcriteria information.
 71. The computer system of claim 70, wherein saidbuyer list further includes at least a portion of said vendorqualification information associated with the vendor.
 72. The computersystem of claim 71, further comprising: a buyer database associated withthe buyer, said buyer list being downloaded to said buyer database fromsaid database storing said vendor qualification information and saidvendor criteria information.
 73. The computer system of claim 70,further comprising: means for monitoring said vendor qualificationinformation to request updated vendor qualification information from thevendor to maintain qualification of the vendor for the buyer; and meansfor selectively removing the vendor from said buyer list when saidupdated vendor qualification information is not provided by the vendor.74. The computer system of claim 70, wherein said buyer list is used bythe buyer in selecting given ones of the qualified vendors to receiverequests for purchase and requests for quote for all future requests forpurchase and requests for quote.
 75. A computer system for verifying thequalifications of a vendor for a qualifier, comprising: a web serverconfigured to receive vendor qualification information associated withthe vendor via a data network; a database configured to store saidvendor qualification information and vendor criteria informationassociated with the qualifier; means for verifying said vendorqualification information provided by the vendor; and means forcomparing said verified vendor qualification information to said vendorcriteria information to qualify the vendor for the qualifier.
 76. Thecomputer system of claim 75, wherein said means for verifying comprises:an input device configured to enable a user of the computer system toenter verification information associated with said vendor qualificationinformation into said database; and a user interface configured toprovide the user with verification request information requesting theuser verify said vendor qualification information and enter saidverification information into said database.
 77. A method forcalculating statistical data associated with vendor qualifications,comprising: collecting a plurality of qualification data identifyingvendor qualification requirements within an industry, each saidqualification data including an industry profile and industry-relateddata; comparing selected criteria associated with the vendorqualification requirements for said industry with each said industryprofile within each said qualification data to determine matchingqualification data; and calculating statistical data related to saidindustry-related data included within said matching qualification data.78. The method of claim 77, wherein said qualification data comprisesvendor qualification information associated with a particular vendor,and wherein said step of collecting further comprises: entering saidvendor qualification information into a vendor record within a database.79. The method of claim 77, wherein said qualification data comprisesvendor criteria information associated with a particular buyer for eachvendor doing business with the buyer, and wherein said step ofcollecting further comprises: entering said vendor criteria informationinto a buyer record within a database.
 80. The method of claim 77,further comprising: storing said statistical data within an industryrecord within a database.
 81. The method of claim 77, wherein said stepof calculating is performed periodically.
 82. The method of claim 81,wherein said selected criteria is pre-configured, said step ofcalculating being performed automatically.
 83. The method of claim 77,further comprising: receiving said selected criteria at a web serverfrom a user via a user browser.
 84. The method of claim 83, wherein saidstep of receiving further comprises: pushing one or more web pages at atime from the web server to the user browser, said one or more web pagesincluding criteria selection data for use by the user in entering saidselected criteria.
 85. The method of claim 84, wherein said step ofpushing said one or more web pages further comprises the step of: usingsaid selected criteria entered in response to said one or more web pagesto determine one or more additional web pages to be pushed to the userbrowser.
 86. The method of claim 85, wherein said step of pushingfurther comprises the steps of: storing criteria fields containing saidcriteria selection data within a database; and populating said one ormore web pages with said criteria selection data from said criteriafields.
 87. The method of claim 86, wherein said step of storing saidcriteria fields further comprises the step of: storing said criteriafields within said database in a hierarchical and relational structure.88. The method of claim 87, wherein said step of collecting furthercomprises: storing said qualification data within said database in ahierarchical and relational structure mirroring select ones of saidcriteria fields.
 89. A method for providing statistical data associatedwith vendor qualifications, comprising: storing a plurality of industryrecords within a database, each of said industry records includingindustry-related vendor criteria information for an industry, each saidindustry-related vendor criteria information including at least anindustry profile identifying the respective industry and industryqualification data identifying vendor qualification requirements withinthe respective industry; receiving selected criteria including at leasta requested industry profile from a user; comparing said requestedindustry profile with each said industry profile within each saidindustry record to determine a matching one of said industry records;and providing at least part of said industry qualification data includedwithin said matching industry record to the user.
 90. The method ofclaim 89, wherein said step of storing said industry records furthercomprises: collecting a plurality of vendor qualification dataidentifying vendor qualification requirements within a particularindustry; calculating statistical data related to said vendorqualification data; and storing said statistical data as at least partof said industry qualification data within a select one of said industryrecords associated with the particular industry.
 91. The method of claim90, wherein said vendor qualification data comprises vendorqualification information associated with a particular vendor, andwherein said step of collecting further comprises: entering said vendorqualification information into a vendor record within a database. 92.The method of claim 90, wherein said vendor qualification data comprisesbuyer-defined vendor criteria information associated with a particularbuyer for each vendor doing business with the buyer, and wherein saidstep of collecting further comprises: entering said buyer-defined vendorcriteria information into a buyer record within a database.
 93. Themethod of claim 89, wherein said step of receiving said selectedcriteria further comprises: pushing one or more web pages at a time froma web server to a user browser associated with the user, said one ormore web pages including criteria selection data for use by the user inentering said selected criteria.
 94. The method of claim 93, whereinsaid step of pushing said one or more web pages further comprises thestep of: using said selected criteria entered in response to said one ormore web pages to determine one or more additional web pages to bepushed to the user browser.
 95. The method of claim 94, wherein saidstep of pushing further comprises the steps of: storing criteria fieldscontaining said criteria selection data within a database; andpopulating said one or more web pages with said criteria selection datafrom said criteria fields.
 96. The method of claim 95, wherein said stepof storing said criteria fields further comprises the step of: storingsaid criteria fields within said database in a hierarchical andrelational structure.
 97. The method of claim 96, wherein said step ofstoring said industry records further comprises: storing saidindustry-related vendor criteria information within said database in ahierarchical and relational structure mirroring select ones of saidcriteria fields.
 98. The method of claim 89, wherein said step ofstoring said industry records further comprises: receiving saidindustry-related vendor criteria information at a web server from anadministrative user via an administrative user browser.
 99. The methodof claim 98, wherein said step of receiving said industry-related vendorcriteria information further comprises: pushing one or more web pages ata time from the web server to the administrative user browser, said oneor more web pages including industry selection data for use by the userin entering said industry-related vendor criteria information.
 100. Themethod of claim 99, wherein said step of pushing said one or more webpages further comprises the step of: using said industry-related vendorcriteria information entered in response to said one or more web pagesto determine one or more additional web pages to be pushed to theadministrative user browser.
 101. The method of claim 100, wherein saidstep of pushing further comprises the steps of: storing industry fieldscontaining said industry selection data within said database; andpopulating said one or more web pages with said industry selection datafrom said industry fields.
 102. The method of claim 101, wherein saidstep of storing said industry fields further comprises the step of:storing said industry fields within said database in a hierarchical andrelational structure.
 103. The method of claim 102, wherein said step ofstoring said industry records further comprises: storing saidindustry-related vendor criteria information within said database in ahierarchical and relational structure mirroring select ones of saidindustry fields.